A federal hearing officer has ruled that...

A federal hearing officer has ruled that investors in a San Joaquin Valley cotton operation were ineligible for individual federal subsidies and must repay $1.35 million. Ron Holling, a hearing officer for the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, ruled that McCarthy-Amaro-Cook Management Corp. was doing custom farming in the spring of 1986, making 28 investors eligible for only a single $50,000 subsidy payment for that year’s cotton crop. Holling said the investors were one entity and disallowed separate payments of $50,000 each that were made to three trusts and 25 individuals who were listed as tenants.