A new bill proposed by Representatives Joe Courtney, a Connecticut Democrat, and Chris Gibson, a New York Republican, and devised with input from the National Young Farmers Coalition, would improve the situation by forgiving the balance of student loans of those who spent 10 years as farmers and made loan payments during that time.

The bill would add farmers to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which already forgives student loans for police officers, prosecutors, nurses and others, so perhaps its best aspect is the cultural shift it represents, grouping farmers with others in public service.

“Conceptually, this isn’t radical or symbolic,” says Courtney. “It’s recognizing a huge work force need.” And, as Gibson says, it addresses megafarming: “In the five years from 2007 to 2012 we only gained a little over 1,200 farmers. Since we aren’t going to stop eating, we have to reverse that trend, or we’ll see even more consolidation, more corporate farms, or increasing food imports; none of that is in our interest.”

All of this is true. And arguing against a bill like this would be counterproductive. But there are a couple of immediate objections here. The first is that the program is only focused on helping people who’ve gone to college, a particular slice of the American pie that skews white and well off. (There is of course the obvious question of why we can’t provide free college education to anyone who wants it.)

Second, the terms seem onerous: It’s difficult enough to make a living farming, especially when starting out. Why not (as some state programs do) forgive the loan after a couple of years, with an agreement to keep farming?