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Cattleman wants small business size standards to rest with agency

Cattle producer Jeff Beasley says Small Business Administration (SBA) size standards for farms need to be updated to reflect the volume of business done on today’s operations.  Beasley, who raises cattle in southern Illinois, tells Brownfield any farm doing more than $750,000 in gross receipts annually does not qualify for SBA loans.

“That $750,000 level is way out of date,” Beasley told Brownfield Ag News.  “Most businesses like ours have surpassed that and it’s time for an adjustment to that threshold.”

Cattlemen also want farm size standards to be determined by the SBA, instead of by Congress, as is currently the case.  Beasley testified to that effect last week before the U.S. House Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade.

“One thing I told the subcommittee was the SBA will need to work with the agriculture industry, all sectors, to work on what that number should be, and will vary from all sectors of agriculture and from regions of the country as well,” said Beasley.

Beasley testified on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in support of pending legislation to return the authority for establishing farm size standards to the Small Business Administration.

AUDIO: Jeff Beasley (9 min. MP3)