To the editor:

Thank you to Rep. Derek Kilmer for visiting island farms and to the Review for reporting some of the challenges facing beginning farmers and small farms.

Heyday Farm landowner Steve Romein hit the nail on the head when he described the burden of student loan debt. Rep. Kilmer says he wants to figure out how to support farmers; luckily for him, the National Young Farmers Coalition has already tilled the soil, so to speak.

The advocacy group supported New York Rep. Christopher Gibson and Connecticut Rep. Joe Courtney by introducing the Young Farmer Success Act of 2015 this summer. This bill seeks to add farmers to the list of people (teachers, nurses, police officers, public interest attorneys, etc.) eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

With the amendment, after 10 years of full-time farming and making student loan payments, farmers would have their federal loan balances forgiven.

Farming absolutely qualifies as the kind of socially beneficial but financially challenging career the government aims to incentivize. I hope Rep. Kilmer will act on his appreciation of non-industrial farming by co-sponsoring the Young Farmer Success Act of 2015.

JANICE HUANG

Bainbridge Island