(NewsDakota.com/NorthDakotaAgConnection.com) – A Red River Valley farmer accused of lying about his failed potato crops is asking a federal judge to reinstate his ability to get federal crop insurance, with his attorney claiming the feds are trying to push him out of farming.

Darren Tronson, a fifth-generation farmer who owns DL Farms, filed a lawsuit on March 3 against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Risk Management Agency (RMA). He is asking the U.S. District Court in North Dakota to cancel a Jan. 12 suspension notice against him from the RMA that keeps him from obtaining federal crop insurance.

“They are trying to take away his livelihood,” his attorney Michelle Donarski said, adding Tronson is a hardworking farmer who is just trying to provide for his family. “They are trying to push him out of farming.”

The lawsuit comes as Tronson faces a federal criminal case that alleged he made false statements to an insurance company and the USDA to obtain federal crop insurance payments. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Dakota alleged in a criminal complaint filed Aug. 25 that Tronson failed to follow good farming practices in 2017 and 2018.

Tronson claimed adverse weather conditions, including drought, dry conditions and excessive moisture, caused poor potato yields, according to court documents.

In 2017, area producers averaged more than 300 hundredweight per acre, or CWT, while Tronson produced 20 CWT per acre that year in Grand Forks County, the...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzZGFrb3RhLmNv...