I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5205

To amend the Agricultural Market Transition Act to establish a flexible

fallow program under which a producer may idle a portion of the total

planted acreage of the loan commodities of the producer in exchange

for higher loan rates for marketing assistance loans on the remaining

acreage of the producer.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 19, 2000

Mr. BEREUTER (for himself and Mr. MINGE) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Market Transition Act to establish a flexible fallow program under which a producer

may idle a portion of the total planted acreage of the

loan commodities of the producer in exchange for higher

loan rates for marketing assistance loans on the remaining acreage of the producer.

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 ‘‘Food Security and

5 Land Stewardship Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FLEXIBLE FALLOW PROGRAM.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Agricultural Market Transi3 tion Act is amended by inserting after section 137 (7

4 U.S.C. 7237) the following new section:

5 ‘‘SEC. 138. ALTERNATIVE LOAN RATES UNDER FLEXIBLE

6 FALLOW PROGRAM.

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF TOTAL PLANTED ACREAGE.—

8 In this section, the term ‘total planted acreage’ means the

9 cropland acreage of a producer that for the 1999 crop year

10 was—

11 ‘‘(1) planted to a loan commodity;

12 ‘‘(2) prevented from being planted to a loan

13 commodity; or

14 ‘‘(3) fallow as part of a fallow rotation practice

15 with respect to a loan commodity, as determined by

16 the Secretary.

17 ‘‘(b) ELECTION TO PARTICIPATE.—In lieu of receiv18 ing a loan rate under section 132 with respect to produc19 tion eligible for a loan under section 131, a producer may

20 elect to participate in a flexible fallow program for any

21 of the 2001 or 2002 crops under which annually—

22 ‘‘(1) the producer determines which acres of the

23 total planted acreage are assigned to a specific loan

24 commodity;

25 ‘‘(2) the producer determines—
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1 ‘‘(A) the projected percentage reduction

2 rate of production of the specific loan com3 modity based on the acreage assigned to the

4 loan commodity under paragraph (1); and

5 ‘‘(B) the acreage of the total planted acre6 age of the producer to be set aside under sub7 paragraph (A), regardless of whether the acre8 age is on the same farm as the acreage planted

9 to the specific loan commodity;

10 ‘‘(3) based on the projected percentage reduc11 tion rate of production as a result of the acreage set

12 aside under paragraph (2), the producer receives the

13 loan rate for each loan commodity produced by the

14 producer, as determined under subsection (c); and

15 ‘‘(4) the acreage planted to loan commodities

16 for harvest and set aside under this section is lim17 ited to the total planted acreage of the producer.

18 ‘‘(c) LOAN RATES UNDER PROGRAM.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2)

20 and (3), in the case of a producer of a loan com21 modity that elects to participate in the flexible fallow

22 program under this section, the loan rate for a mar23 keting assistance loan under section 131 for a crop

24 of the loan commodity shall be based on the pro25 jected percentage reduction rate of production deter-
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1 mined by the producer under subsection (b)(2), in

2 accordance with the following table:

‘‘Projected

Percentage

Reduction

Rate

Corn

Loan

Rate

($/bushel)

Wheat Loan

Rate

($/bushel)

Soybean

Loan Rate

($/bushel)

Upland

Cotton

Loan

Rate

($/pound)

Rice Loan

Rate

($/hundredweight)

0% 1.89 2.75 4.72 0.5192 6.50

1% 1.91 2.78 4.77 0.5268 6.60

2% 1.93 2.81 4.81 0.5344 6.70

3% 1.95 2.83 4.86 0.5420 6.80

4% 1.97 2.86 4.91 0.5496 6.90

5% 1.99 2.89 4.96 0.5572 7.00

6% 2.01 2.92 5.01 0.5648 7.10

7% 2.03 2.95 5.06 0.5724 7.20

8% 2.05 2.98 5.11 0.5800 7.30

9% 2.07 3.01 5.16 0.5876 7.40

10% 2.09 3.04 5.21 0.5952 7.50

11% 2.12 3.08 5.29 0.6028 7.60

12% 2.15 3.13 5.36 0.6104 7.70

13% 2.18 3.17 5.43 0.6180 7.80

14% 2.21 3.22 5.51 0.6256 7.90

15% 2.24 3.27 5.58 0.6332 8.00

16% 2.28 3.31 5.65 0.6408 8.10

17% 2.31 3.36 5.73 0.6484 8.20

18% 2.34 3.41 5.81 0.6560 8.30

19% 2.37 3.46 5.88 0.6636 8.40

20% 2.41 3.51 5.96 0.6712 8.50

21% 2.44 3.55 6.04 0.6788 8.60

22% 2.47 3.60 6.12 0.6864 8.70

23% 2.51 3.65 6.19 0.6940 8.80

24% 2.54 3.70 6.27 0.7016 8.90

25% 2.57 3.75 6.35 0.7092 9.00

26% 2.61 3.80 6.43 0.7168 9.10

27% 2.64 3.85 6.51 0.7244 9.20

28% 2.68 3.90 6.60 0.7320 9.30

29% 2.71 3.95 6.68 0.7396 9.40

30% 2.75 4.01 6.76 0.7472 9.50.

3 ‘‘(2) COUNTY AVERAGE YIELDS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The loan rate for a

5 marketing assistance loan made to a producer

6 for a crop of a loan commodity under para7 graph (1) shall apply with respect to the pro-
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1 duction of the crop of the loan commodity by

2 the producer in a quantity that does not exceed

3 the historical county average yield for the loan

4 commodity established by the National Agricul5 tural Statistics Service, adjusted for long-term

6 yield trends.

7 ‘‘(B) EXCESS PRODUCTION.—The loan

8 rate for a marketing assistance loan made to a

9 producer for a crop of a loan commodity under

10 paragraph (1) with respect to the production of

11 the crop of the loan commodity in excess of the

12 historical county average yield for the loan com13 modity described in subparagraph (A) shall be

14 equal to the loan rate established for a 0% pro15 jected percentage reduction rate for the loan

16 commodity under paragraph (1).

17 ‘‘(C) DISASTERS.—

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the production

19 of a crop of a loan commodity by a pro20 ducer is less than the historical county av21 erage yield for the loan commodity de22 scribed in subparagraph (A) as a result of

23 damaging weather, an insurable peril, or

24 related condition, the producer may receive
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1 a payment on the lost production that shall

2 equal the difference between—

3 ‘‘(I) the maximum quantity of

4 loan commodity that could have been

5 designated for the loan rate author6 ized under this section for the pro7 ducer; and

8 ‘‘(II) the quantity of loan com9 modity the producer was able to

10 produce and commercially market.

11 ‘‘(ii) CALCULATION OF PAYMENT.—

12 The payment described in clause (i) shall

13 be equal to the loan deficiency payment the

14 producer could have received on the lost

15 production on any date, selected by the

16 producer, on which a loan deficiency pay17 ment was available for that crop of the

18 loan commodity.

19 ‘‘(3) OTHER LOAN COMMODITIES.—In the case

20 of a producer of a loan commodity not covered by

21 paragraphs (1) and (2) that elects to participate in

22 the flexible fallow program under this section, the

23 loan rate for a marketing assistance loan under sec24 tion 131 for the crop of the loan commodity shall be

25 based on—
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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of grain sorghum, barley,

2 and oats, such level as the Secretary determines

3 is fair and reasonable in relation to the rate

4 that loans are made available for corn, taking

5 into consideration the feeding value of the com6 modity in relation to corn;

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of extra long staple cot8 ton, such level as the Secretary determines is

9 fair and reasonable; and

10 ‘‘(C) in the case of oilseeds other than soy11 beans, such level as the Secretary determines is

12 fair and reasonable in relation to the loan rate

13 available for soybeans, except that the rate for

14 the oilseeds (other than cottonseed) shall not be

15 less than the rate established for soybeans on a

16 per-pound basis for the same crop.

17 ‘‘(d) CONSERVATION USE OF SET-ASIDE ACRE18 AGE.—To be eligible for a loan rate under this section,

19 a producer shall devote all of the acreage set aside under

20 this section to a conservation use approved by the Sec21 retary and manage the set-aside acreage using manage22 ment practices designed to enhance soil conservation and

23 wildlife habitat. The Secretary shall prescribe the ap24 proved management practices for a county in consultation

25 with the relevant State technical committee.
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1 ‘‘(1) LIMITED GRAZING.—The Secretary may

2 permit limited grazing on the set-aside acreage when

3 the grazing is incidental to the gleaning of crop resi4 dues on adjacent fields.

5 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION.—To be eligible to participate in

6 the flexible fallow program for the 2001 or 2002 crops,

7 a producer shall certify to the Secretary (by farm serial

8 number) the total planted acreage assigned, planted, and

9 set aside with respect to each loan commodity.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

11 (1) LOAN RATE ADJUSTMENTS.—Section 132 of

12 the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C.

13 7232) is amended—

14 (A) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking

15 ‘‘$2.58’’ and inserting ‘‘$2.75’’; and

16 (B) in subsection (f)(1), by striking sub17 paragraph (B) and inserting the following new

18 subparagraph:

19 ‘‘(B) not more than $4.72 per bushel.’’.

20 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made

21 by this subsection shall apply beginning with the

22 2001 crop of a loan commodity (as defined in sec23 tion 102 of the Agricultural Market Transition Act

24 (7 U.S.C. 7202)).

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