According the a June 22, 2015 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Horne v Department of Agriculture, the government must pay you fair market value if it takes part of your crop for a reserve program. But, under the 1942 case of Wickard v Filburn, the government can instead fine you for exceeding a quota for your crop.

What this means is that agricultural reserve programs will basically no longer be able to do what they were intended to do, to take excess product off the market. If the government has to pair market prices for the reserve, it will not be able to use that reserve to control the market price.

Quotas, on the other hand, are still a legal way for the government to control the market. I am sure that as a result of this, many reserve programs may get turned into quota systems, with fines for exceeding quota.

What does this mean to you? If the government is making you hand over some or all of your crop for free, or below market price, you might be owed some money.

If you have any questions, or want to know if you should be compensated, contact me now.