Quota holders vote to challenge provisions of the new farm bill

ALBANY - Peanut quota holders voted overwhelmingly today to support a class-action lawsuit challenging portions of a new farm bill. <br> <br> The new farm bill abolishes a Depression-era quota system that maintained lofty prices for American peanuts, recently more than double the world market rate. <br> <br> About 170 of the 600-member Peanut Quota Holders Association met at the Albany Civic Center and agreed to back the lawsuit. <br> <br> The suit challenges the amount of compensation they would receive for their lost quota and the government&#39;s right to deprive them of the asset. <br> <br> Estimates for the value of peanut quota range from 75 cents to a dollar, ten per pound, well above the 55 cents the government will pay under the new farm bill. <br> <br> The bill, signed into law by President Bush last month, replaces the quota system with a base, which will determine each grower&#39;s federal crop-support payments.