Holders of peanut quotas plan to file suit

ALBANY, Ga. -- A lawyer for peanut farmers says he plans to fight the new federal farm bill in court, arguing that the government is not offering enough money to people whose income depends on quotas abolished by the bill.

Members of the Peanut Quota Holders Association voted overwhelmingly earlier this month to support a class-action suit challenging provisions of the law, which abolished the quota system.

Under the system, peanut farmers could purchase or rent licenses, known as quotas, that guaranteed them a minimum price for peanuts, with the license establishing the number of pounds of peanuts eligible for that price. Farmers who did not have quotas had to settle for far lower prices.

William S. Stone, an attorney for the association, said the farm bill clearly defines the peanut quotas as an asset, and the Constitution prohibits the government from taking assets without adequate compensation.

"The question is, what's adequate?" he asked. "Can Congress take property for public purposes, set an arbitrary price and pay inadequate compensation?"

Signed into law by President Bush last month, the legislation abolishes a Depression-era quota system that maintained lofty prices for American peanuts. The quota system is being replaced by a base system in which support payments are calculated from a "base" amount of crop that farmers have typically produced.