A little-noticed statute, passed at the peak of optimism in 1996 and included in the bulky Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, now threatens federal farm program benefits including commodity loans and loan deficiency payments. If a non-tax debt to the federal government is delinquent, the individual or firm is ineligible for federal assistance including direct loans, loan insurance, loan guarantees, commodity loans and loan deficiency payments.