I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1932 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to restore integrity to and 

strengthen payment limitation rules for commodity payments and benefits. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2013 

Mr. FORTENBERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to restore integrity 

to and strengthen payment limitation rules for commodity payments and benefits. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farm Program Integ5 rity Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PAYMENT LIMITATIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1001 of the Food Security 

8 Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (3) 

10 and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) LEGAL ENTITY.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘legal entity’ 

3 means— 

4 ‘‘(i) an organization that (subject to 

5 the requirements of this section and sec6 tion 1001A) is eligible to receive a pay7 ment under a provision of law referred to 

8 in subsection (b), (c), or (d); 

9 ‘‘(ii) a corporation, joint stock com10 pany, association, limited partnership, lim11 ited liability company, limited liability 

12 partnership, charitable organization, es13 tate, irrevocable trust, grantor of a rev14 ocable trust, or other similar entity (as de15 termined by the Secretary); and 

16 ‘‘(iii) an organization that is partici17 pating in a farming operation as a partner 

18 in a general partnership or as a participant 

19 in a joint venture. 

20 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘legal entity’ 

21 does not include a general partnership or joint 

22 venture.’’; 

23 (2) by striking subsections (b) through (d) and 

24 inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS FOR COVERED COM2 MODITIES AND PEANUTS.—The total amount of payments 

3 received, directly or indirectly, by a person or legal entity 

4 for any crop year for 1 or more covered commodities and 

5 peanuts under title I of the Food, Conservation, and En6 ergy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8701 et seq.) (or a successor 

7 provision) may not exceed $125,000, of which— 

8 ‘‘(1) not more than $75,000 may consist of 

9 marketing loan gains and loan deficiency payments 

10 under subtitle B or C of title I of the Food, Con11 servation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8731 

12 et seq.) (or a successor provision); and 

13 ‘‘(2) not more than $50,000 may consist of any 

14 other payments made for covered commodities and 

15 peanuts under title I of the Food, Conservation, and 

16 Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8702 et seq.) (or a 

17 successor provision). 

18 ‘‘(c) SPOUSAL EQUITY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

20 (b), except as provided in paragraph (2), if a person 

21 and the spouse of the person are covered by para22 graph (2) and receive, directly or indirectly, any pay23 ment or gain covered by this section, the total 

24 amount of payments or gains (as applicable) covered 

25 by this section that the person and spouse may 


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1 jointly receive during any crop year may not exceed 

2 an amount equal to twice the applicable dollar 

3 amounts specified in subsection (b). 

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) SEPARATE FARMING OPERATIONS.— 

6 In the case of a married couple in which each 

7 spouse, before the marriage, was separately en8 gaged in an unrelated farming operation, each 

9 spouse shall be treated as a separate person 

10 with respect to a farming operation brought 

11 into the marriage by a spouse, subject to the 

12 condition that the farming operation shall re13 main a separate farming operation, as deter14 mined by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(B) ELECTION TO RECEIVE SEPARATE

16 PAYMENTS.—A married couple may elect to re17 ceive payments separately in the name of each 

18 spouse if the total amount of payments and 

19 benefits described in subsection (b) that the 

20 married couple receives, directly or indirectly, 

21 does not exceed an amount equal to twice the 

22 applicable dollar amounts specified in those 

23 subsections.’’; 

24 (3) in paragraph (3)(B) of subsection (f), by 

25 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) IRREVOCABLE TRUSTS.—In pro2 mulgating regulations to define the term 

3 ‘legal entity’ as the term applies to irrev4 ocable trusts, the Secretary shall ensure 

5 that irrevocable trusts are legitimate enti6 ties that have not been created for the pur7 pose of avoiding a payment limitation.’’; 

8 and 

9 (4) in subsection (h), in the second sentence, by 

10 striking ‘‘or other entity’’ and inserting ‘‘or legal en11 tity’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (1) Section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 

14 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308) is amended— 

15 (A) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘sub16 sections (b) and (c)’’ each place it appears in 

17 paragraphs (1) and (3)(B) and inserting ‘‘sub18 section (b)’’; 

19 (B) in subsection (f)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (2), by striking 

21 ‘‘Subsections (b) and (c)’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘Subsection (b)’’; 

23 (ii) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking 

24 ‘‘subsection (b) or (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub25 section (b)’’; 


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1 (iii) in paragraph (5)— 

2 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik3 ing ‘‘subsection (d)’’; and 

4 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 

5 striking ‘‘subsection (b), (c), or (d)’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

7 (iv) in paragraph (6)— 

8 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik9 ing ‘‘Notwithstanding subsection (d), 

10 except as provided in subsection (g)’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

12 subsection (f)’’; and 

13 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 

14 striking ‘‘subsections (b), (c), and 

15 (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 

16 (C) in subsection (g)— 

17 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (I) by striking ‘‘subsection 

19 (f)(6)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

20 (e)(6)(A)’’; and 

21 (II) by striking ‘‘subsection (b) 

22 or (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 

23 and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

2 ‘‘subsections (b) and (c)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

4 (D) by redesignating subsections (e) 

5 through (h) as subsections (d) through (g), re6 spectively. 

7 (2) Section 1001A of the Food Security Act of 

8 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308–1) is amended— 

9 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sub10 sections (b) and (c) of section 1001’’ and in11 serting ‘‘section 1001(b)’’; and 

12 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘sub13 section (b) or (c) of section 1001’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘section 1001(b)’’. 

15 (3) Section 1001B(a) of the Food Security Act 

16 of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308–2(a)) is amended in the 

17 matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘sub18 sections (b) and (c) of section 1001’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘section 1001(b)’’. 

20 (c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 

21 section shall apply beginning with the 2014 crop year. 

22 SEC. 3. PAYMENTS LIMITED TO ACTIVE FARMERS. 

23 Section 1001A of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 

24 U.S.C. 1308–1) is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or active personal man2 agement’’ each place it appears in subpara3 graphs (A)(i)(II) and (B)(ii); and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘, as 

5 applied to the legal entity, are met by the legal 

6 entity, the partners or members making a sig7 nificant contribution of personal labor or active 

8 personal management’’ and inserting ‘‘are met 

9 by partners or members making a significant 

10 contribution of personal labor, those partners or 

11 members’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (c)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

14 (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 

15 inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) the landowner share-rents the land at 

17 a rate that is usual and customary;’’; 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

19 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

20 and’’; and 

21 (iii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(C) the share of the payments received by 

24 the landowner is commensurate with the share 

25 of the crop or income received as rent.’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘ac2 tive personal management or’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (5)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘(5)’’ and all that fol5 lows through ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A per6 son’’ and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(5) CUSTOM FARMING SERVICES.—A person’’; 

8 (ii) by inserting ‘‘under usual and 

9 customary terms’’ after ‘‘services’’; and 

10 (iii) by striking subparagraph (B); 

11 and 

12 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(7) FARM MANAGERS.—A person who other14 wise meets the requirements of this subsection other 

15 than (b)(2)(A)(i)(II) shall be considered to be ac16 tively engaged in farming, as determined by the Sec17 retary, with respect to the farming operation, includ18 ing a farming operation that is a sole proprietorship, 

19 a legal entity such as a joint venture or general 

20 partnership, or a legal entity such as a corporation 

21 or limited partnership, if the person— 

22 ‘‘(A) makes a significant contribution of 

23 management to the farming operation necessary 

24 for the farming operation, taking into ac25 count— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the size and complexity of the 

2 farming operation; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the management requirements 

4 normally and customarily required by simi5 lar farming operations; 

6 ‘‘(B)(i) is the only person in the farming 

7 operation qualifying as actively engaged in 

8 farming by using the farm manager special 

9 class designation under this paragraph; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) together with any other persons in the 

11 farming operation qualifying as actively en12 gaged in farming under subsection (b)(2) or as 

13 part of a special class under this subsection, 

14 does not collectively receive, directly or indi15 rectly, an amount equal to more than the appli16 cable limits under section 1001(b); 

17 ‘‘(C) does not use the management con18 tribution under this paragraph to qualify as ac19 tively engaged in more than 1 farming oper20 ation; and 

21 ‘‘(D) manages a farm operation that does 

22 not substantially share equipment, labor, or 

23 management with persons or legal entities that 

24 with the person collectively receive, directly or 


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1 indirectly, an amount equal to more than the 

2 applicable limits under section 1001(b).’’. 

Æ 


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