RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A federal appeals court in Virginia yesterday threw out a nearly 30 million dollar judgment for peanut farmers in seven states -- including Alabama.

Those farmers sued the government in a dispute over crop insurance payments.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with federal officials who'd slashed the payments by nearly half.

Farmers attorney Dan Boyce says they'll appeal.

The lawsuit involves about 3,870 farmers in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

They claimed the federal crop insurance program should have paid them 31 cents a pound for peanut crops lost in the 2002 drought.

The appeals court said that under the 2002 Farm Bill that eliminated the peanut quota system, the farmers were only entitled to just under 18 cents per pound.

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