I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2339

To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to permit producers to adopt integrated, site-specific farm management plans that provide for resourceconserving crop rotation, special conservation practices, rotational grazing, and biomass production operations and practices.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 14, 1995

Mr. MINGE (for himself, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, and Mr. JOHNSON of

South Dakota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to permit producers

to adopt integrated, site-specific farm management plans

that provide for resource-conserving crop rotation, special

conservation practices, rotational grazing, and biomass

production operations and practices.

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

3 SECTION 1. CONSERVATION FLEX PROGRAM OPTION.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Agricul5 tural Act of 1949 is amended by inserting after section

6 115 (7 U.S.C. 1445k) the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 116. CONSERVATION FLEX PROGRAM OPTION.

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab3 lish a voluntary conservation flex program option to assist

4 producers of agricultural commodities in adopting inte5 grated, site-specific farm management plans through the

6 reduction of farm program barriers to resource steward7 ship practices and systems.

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘program’ means the conserva10 tion flex program option established under this sec11 tion.

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘plan’ means a site-specific farm

13 management plan prepared by the producer and ap14 proved by the Secretary.

15 ‘‘(3) The term ‘alternative crops’ means experi16 mental and industrial crops which conserve soil and

17 water.

18 ‘‘(4) The term ‘breeding cattle’ means bulls,

19 dams, and heifers held solely for the production of

20 calves, but shall not include weaned calves being

21 grown for slaughter or dairy cattle.

22 ‘‘(5) The term ‘legume’ means any legume, in23 cluding alfalfa, clover, lentils, lupine, medic, peas,

24 soybeans, and vetch grown for use as a forage, green

25 manure, or biomass feedstock, but not including any

26 pulse crop from which the seeds are harvested and
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1 sold for purposes other than use as seed for plant2 ing.

3 ‘‘(6) The term ‘resource-conserving crop’ means

4 legumes, grasses, brassica cover crops and forages,

5 alternative crops, any interseeded or relay-planted

6 combination of such crops, any interseeded or relay7 planted combination of such crops and small grains,

8 and such other crops as the Secretary may des9 ignate.

10 ‘‘(7) The term ‘resource-conserving crop rota11 tion’ means a crop rotation which includes at least

12 one resource-conserving crop and that reduces ero13 sion, maintains or improves soil fertility, tilth and

14 structure, interrupts pest cycles, or conserves water.

15 ‘‘(8) The term ‘rotational grazing’ means plant16 ing forage, dividing pastures into paddocks, and

17 using grazing rotations to increase forage quality

18 and production, improve vegetative cover, and reduce

19 sediment and nutrient runoff.

20 ‘‘(9) The term ‘small grains’ means any small

21 grain, including barley, buckwheat, oats, rye, spelt,

22 and triticale, but not including wheat, except for

23 wheat grown for nonhuman consumption.

24 ‘‘(10) The term ‘special conservation practices’

25 means field borders, contour grass strips, grass wa-
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1 terways, filter strips, grass windbreaks, buffer areas,

2 wildlife habitat plantings, habitat plantings for bene3 ficial organisms that aid in the control of pests, and

4 such other practices as the Secretary may designate.

5 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PRODUCERS.—To be eligible to par6 ticipate in the program, a producer must prepare and sub7 mit to the Secretary for approval a site-specific farm man8 agement plan, which may at the producer’s option be inte9 grated with any conservation plan developed pursuant to

10 section 1212 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.

11 3812) and any other conservation or natural resource plan

12 required for producer participation in any program within

13 the jurisdiction of the Secretary.

14 ‘‘(d) AGREEMENTS.—Upon the approval of a plan

15 submitted by a producer under subsection (c), the Sec16 retary shall enter into an agreement with the producer

17 that specifies the crop acreage bases being enrolled in the

18 program. The agreement shall be for a period of not less

19 than one year, nor more than seven years, as determined

20 by the producer. The agreement may be renewed upon the

21 mutual agreement of the Secretary and the producer.

22 ‘‘(e) PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER AGREE23 MENT.—Under the terms of an agreement entered into

24 under subsection (d), a producer shall agree—
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1 ‘‘(1) to actively comply with the terms and con2 ditions of the applicable plan, as approved by the

3 Secretary;

4 ‘‘(2) to devote to a resource-conserving crop—

5 ‘‘(A) not less than 15 percent of the crop

6 acreage bases of the producer enrolled under

7 such program; or

8 ‘‘(B) not less than 15 percent of the pro9 ducer’s total crop acres, if the sum of resource10 conserving crop acres on non-base acres and

11 total crop acreage bases on the farm does not

12 exceed the county average base-to-cropland

13 ratio; and

14 ‘‘(3) to keep such records as the Secretary may

15 reasonably require for purposes of program evalua16 tion.

17 ‘‘(f) REQUIREMENTS OF THE PLAN.—To be approved

18 by the Secretary, a plan submitted by a producer must—

19 ‘‘(1) specify the crop acreage bases the pro20 ducer chooses to enroll in the program;

21 ‘‘(2) describe the resource-conserving crop rota22 tion, special conservation practices, rotational graz23 ing, or biomass production operations and practices

24 to be implemented and maintained on such acreage
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1 during the agreement period which fulfill the pur2 poses of the program;

3 ‘‘(3) contain a schedule for the implementation,

4 improvement and maintenance of the resource-con5 serving crop rotation, special conservation practices,

6 rotational grazing, or biomass operations and prac7 tices described in the plan; and

8 ‘‘(4) contain such other terms as the Secretary

9 may require.

10 ‘‘(g) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION, CERTIFICATION,

11 AND TERMINATION.—

12 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION, TECHNICAL

13 ASSISTANCE, AND FLEXIBILITY.—

14 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATION.—The program

15 shall be administered by the Secretary.

16 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In admin17 istering the program, the Secretary, in con18 sultation with the local conservation districts

19 and any State or local authorities deemed ap20 propriate by the Secretary, shall provide tech21 nical assistance to a producer in developing and

22 implementing a plan, evaluating the effective23 ness of a plan, and assessing the costs and ben24 efits of farming operations and practices. If re25 quested by a producer, the Secretary shall pro-
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1 vide technical assistance to help the producer

2 comply with Federal, State, and local require3 ments designed to protect soil, wetlands, wild4 life habitat, the quality of ground water and

5 surface water, or other natural resources.

6 ‘‘(C) FLEXIBILITY.—In administering the

7 program, the Secretary shall provide sufficient

8 flexibility for a producer to revise the produc9 er’s plan to respond to changes in market con10 ditions, weather, or technology or to adjust and

11 modify the farming operation, except that such

12 revisions must be consistent with the purposes

13 of the program and approved by the Secretary.

14 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall cer15 tify producer compliance with the terms and condi16 tions of the plan.

17 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may termi18 nate an agreement entered into with a producer

19 under this program if—

20 ‘‘(A) the producer agrees to such termi21 nation; or

22 ‘‘(B) the producer violates the terms and

23 conditions of such agreement.

24 ‘‘(h) PROGRAM RULES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) BASE AND YIELD PROTECTION.—Notwith2 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary

3 shall not reduce crop acreage bases or farm program

4 payment yields as a result of the planting of a re5 source-conserving crop.

6 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT ACRES.—Notwithstanding any

7 other provision of law, the Secretary shall not reduce

8 any farm program loans, payments, or benefits of a

9 program participant as a result of the planting of a

10 resource-conserving crop.

11 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT RATE.—Notwithstanding any

12 other provision of law, the Secretary shall provide

13 deficiency payments on resource-conserving crop

14 acreage eligible for payments at a rate not less than

15 the projected deficiency payment rate, as determined

16 and announced each year by the Secretary prior to

17 the period during which producers may agree to par18 ticipate in the program.

19 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT ACRE PROTECTION.—Notwith20 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary

21 shall not reduce the payment acres or the estab22 lished price for a program participant who has en23 tered into an agreement with the Secretary for a

24 fixed period of time.
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1 ‘‘(5) RESOURCE-CONSERVING CROPS ON NOR2 MAL FLEX ACREAGE.—Acreage devoted to resource3 conserving crops under this program may, at the

4 discretion of the producer, be designated as normal

5 flex acreage.

6 ‘‘(6) ADJUSTMENTS IN PRODUCTION ADJUST7 MENT REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding any other

8 provision of law, the Secretary shall make fair and

9 equitable adjustments in acreage limitation require10 ments applicable to a producer participating in the

11 program giving due consideration to crop rotation,

12 special conservation practices, rotational grazing,

13 biomass production, and other appropriate factors

14 resulting from the implementation of a plan. If the

15 Secretary determines that the reduction in program

16 crop production on a participating farm referred to

17 in the preceding sentence will equal or exceed any

18 reduction in crop production which, in the absence

19 of participation in the program, would occur as a re20 sult of acreage limitation requirements, the Sec21 retary shall waive such acreage limitation require22 ments for the farm. If the resource conserving crop

23 includes a farm program feed grain crop planted on

24 the base acres of another farm program feed grain

25 crop, the Secretary shall take into account the estab-
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1 lished or county average yield of the two feed grains

2 for the purposes of making the adjustment or waiv3 er.

4 ‘‘(7) TOTAL BASE ACREAGE FLEXIBILITY.—

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec6 retary shall allow participants in this program to

7 plant farm program crops and oilseeds in any pro8 portion on a producer’s total acreage of farm pro9 gram crop base and historic oilseeds acreage without

10 affecting farm program payments.

11 ‘‘(8) CROP INSURANCE.—Notwithstanding any

12 other provision of law, acreage devoted to resource13 conserving crops under this program shall be eligible

14 for crop insurance pursuant to the Federal Crop In15 surance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).

16 ‘‘(9) HAYING AND GRAZING RESTRICTION.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

18 not make any farm program payments to a pro19 ducer, who is otherwise eligible to receive such

20 payments, for acreage enrolled in the program

21 if the producer, during the consecutive five

22 month period in each State in which haying and

23 grazing of conserving use acres may be prohib24 ited under the provisions of this Act, grazes
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1 breeding cattle or nursing calves or harvests

2 and sells hay on payment acres.

3 ‘‘(B) TRANSITION OPTION.—The restric4 tion in subparagraph (A) shall not apply in the

5 case of a producer who agrees to retire all base

6 acreage enrolled in the program at the end of

7 the agreement period.

8 ‘‘(C) EMERGENCY HAYING AND GRAZ9 ING.—The Secretary shall release acreage de10 voted to resource-conserving crops for emer11 gency haying and grazing as the result of a nat12 ural disaster when the Secretary permits unlim13 ited haying and grazing on—

14 ‘‘(i) reduced acreage under this Act;

15 ‘‘(ii) acreage devoted to a conservation

16 use under this Act;

17 ‘‘(iii) acreage diverted from produc18 tion under a land diversion program estab19 lished under this Act; or

20 ‘‘(iv) acreage enrolled in the conserva21 tion reserve program under the Food Secu22 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801 et

23 seq.).’’.
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1 (b) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Section 1451 of the

2 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990

3 (7 U.S.C. 5822) is repealed.

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