II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4982 

To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to require the 

Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to provide recovery 

payments to producers of seasonal and perishable crops that experience 

low prices caused by imports, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. OSSOFF introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 

to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a 

pilot program to provide recovery payments to producers 

of seasonal and perishable crops that experience low 

prices caused by imports, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Our 

5 Produce Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP LOSS PILOT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 The Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 

4 (Public Law 108–465; 118 Stat. 3882) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’ each 

6 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

7 (2) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(3) The 

9 term’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.— 

11 The term’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(2) The 

13 term’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term’’; and 

15 (C) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1) The 

16 term’’ and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

18 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

19 ‘‘(2) SPECIALTY CROP.—The term’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘TITLE V—SEASONAL AND 

22 PERISHABLE CROP PROGRAMS 

23 ‘‘SEC. 501. SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP LOSS PILOT 

24 PROGRAM. 

25 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) EFFECTIVE PRICE.—The term ‘effective 

2 price’, with respect to a seasonal and perishable crop 

3 for a marketing year, means the national average 

4 market price for that seasonal and perishable crop 

5 during the seasonal marketing window for the sea6 sonal and perishable crop. 

7 ‘‘(2) REFERENCE PRICE.—The term ‘reference 

8 price’, with respect to a seasonal and perishable crop 

9 for a marketing year, means the average of the na10 tional average market prices received by all pro11 ducers of the seasonal and perishable crop during 

12 the seasonal marketing window for the seasonal and 

13 perishable crop for the most recent 5-year period of 

14 marketing seasons, excluding— 

15 ‘‘(A) the marketing season during that pe16 riod with the highest national average market 

17 price; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the marketing season during that pe19 riod with the lowest national average market 

20 price. 

21 ‘‘(3) SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP.—The 

22 term ‘seasonal and perishable crop’ means an aspar23 agus, bell pepper, blueberry, cucumber, or squash 

24 crop that is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) marketed in raw form for consump2 tion without further processing; and 

3 ‘‘(B) as determined by the Secretary, nor4 mally marketed not later than 4 weeks after 

5 harvesting. 

6 ‘‘(4) SEASONAL MARKETING WINDOW.—The 

7 term ‘seasonal marketing window’ means the time8 frame during a marketing year, as determined by 

9 the Secretary— 

10 ‘‘(A) during which a crop is normally mar11 keted within a specific geographical region of 

12 the United States; and 

13 ‘‘(B) that concludes on the date that is not 

14 later than 4 weeks after the last day on which 

15 the crop is normally harvested. 

16 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with marketing 

18 year 2025, the Secretary shall establish a pilot pro19 gram under which the Secretary shall provide annual 

20 crop loss payments to producers of seasonal and per21 ishable crops located in any geographical region de22 scribed in paragraph (2) in accordance with this sec23 tion, if the Secretary determines that, during the ap24 plicable marketing year— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the effective price of the seasonal and 

2 perishable crop is less than the reference price 

3 of that seasonal and perishable crop; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the crop loss described in subpara5 graph (A) is caused by imports of the applicable 

6 seasonal and perishable crop. 

7 ‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL RE8 GIONS.—A geographical region referred to in para9 graph (1) is a geographical region of the United 

10 States in which a seasonal and perishable crop is 

11 grown within a seasonal marketing window during 

12 which a harvest and shipment of the seasonal and 

13 perishable crop occurs, as determined by the Sec14 retary. 

15 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.— 

16 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

17 payment under the pilot program under this section, 

18 a producer of 1 or more seasonal and perishable 

19 crops shall submit to the Secretary an application at 

20 such time, in such manner, and containing such in21 formation as the Secretary may require, including 

22 the information described in paragraph (2). 

23 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—No producer may be eli24 gible to receive a payment under the pilot program 

25 under this section unless the producer— 


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1 ‘‘(A) has an average adjusted gross income 

2 of less than $5,000,000 for the 3 tax years pre3 ceding the most recent tax year; and 

4 ‘‘(B) derives at least 75 percent of the ad5 justed gross income of the producer from farm6 ing, ranching, or forestry, as determined by the 

7 Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The amount of a payment 

9 provided under the pilot program under this section shall 

10 be equal to the product obtained by multiplying— 

11 ‘‘(1) the payment rate for the marketing year 

12 for which the payment is provided with respect to 

13 the applicable seasonal and perishable crop under 

14 subsection (e); and 

15 ‘‘(2) the average production during the 5 most 

16 recent marketing years of the seasonal and perish17 able crop by the producer during the seasonal mar18 keting window, excluding— 

19 ‘‘(A) the marketing year during that pe20 riod with the highest production; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the marketing year during that pe22 riod with the lowest production. 

23 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT RATE.—The rate of a payment pro24 vided under the pilot program under this section shall be 

25 equal to the difference between— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the reference price of the applicable sea2 sonal and perishable crop; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the effective price of that seasonal and 

4 perishable crop. 

5 ‘‘(f) SUNSET.—The pilot program under this section 

6 shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date 

7 of enactment of the Protecting Our Produce Act. 

8 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

10 out this section $200,000,000 for each fiscal year that be11 gins after the date of enactment of the Protecting Our 

12 Produce Act and before the date described in subsection 

13 (f).’’. 

Æ 


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