II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2698 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to provide 

payments to producers experiencing certain crop losses as a result of 

a disaster. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to provide payments to producers experiencing certain crop losses as a result of a disaster. 

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 ‘‘Agricultural Emer5 gency Relief Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AVERAGE ADJUSTED GROSS FARM IN9 COME.—The term ‘‘average adjusted gross farm inVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:33 Aug 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2698.IS S2698

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1 come’’, with respect to a producer, means the por2 tion of the average adjusted gross income of the pro3 ducer that is derived from farming, ranching, or for4 estry operations. 

5 (2) AVERAGE ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.—The 

6 term ‘‘average adjusted gross income’’, with respect 

7 to a producer, means the adjusted gross income (as 

8 defined in section 62 of the Internal Revenue Code 

9 of 1986) of the producer, as averaged over the 3 

10 taxable years preceding the most recently completed 

11 taxable year. 

12 (3) DISASTER.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘disaster’’ in14 cludes— 

15 (i) a drought; 

16 (ii) a wildfire; 

17 (iii) a hurricane; 

18 (iv) a flood; 

19 (v) a derecho; 

20 (vi) excessive heat; 

21 (vii) excessive moisture; 

22 (viii) a winter storm; and 

23 (ix) a freeze event (including a polar 

24 vortex). 


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1 (B) DETERMINATION OF DROUGHT.—For 

2 purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), a county shall 

3 be considered to have experienced a drought if 

4 any area within the county was rated by the 

5 U.S. Drought Monitor as experiencing— 

6 (i) a D2-level drought (commonly 

7 known as ‘‘severe drought’’) for 8 or more 

8 consecutive weeks; or 

9 (ii) a D3-level drought (commonly 

10 known as ‘‘extreme drought’’), or a higher 

11 level of drought intensity, during the appli12 cable calendar year. 

13 (4) FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE.—The term 

14 ‘‘Federal Crop Insurance’’ means any crop insurance 

15 program under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

16 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.). 

17 (5) NONINSURED CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE

18 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Noninsured Crop Disaster 

19 Assistance Program’’ means the program under sec20 tion 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement 

21 and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333). 

22 (6) PRODUCER.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘producer’’ 

24 means an individual or entity that is eligible to 

25 receive assistance under a disaster assistance 


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1 program administered by the Farm Service 

2 Agency. 

3 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘producer’’ 

4 does not include— 

5 (i) a joint venture; or 

6 (ii) a general partnership. 

7 (7) QUALIFIED LOSS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified 

9 loss’’ means a loss in a crop, trees, bushes, or 

10 vines incurred by a producer as a consequence 

11 of a disaster. 

12 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘qualified 

13 loss’’ includes— 

14 (i) a loss incurred by a producer as a 

15 result of being prevented from planting a 

16 crop due to a disaster; 

17 (ii) a loss in the quality of a crop, 

18 trees, bushes, or vines due to a disaster; 

19 and 

20 (iii) a loss in the quality of a crop (in21 cluding wine grapes), trees, bushes, or 

22 vines due to smoke exposure from a wild23 fire. 

24 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

3 a program under which the Secretary shall provide pay4 ments during each crop year to producers that experienced 

5 a qualified loss during the crop year. 

6 (b) APPLICATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

8 payment under this section for a crop year, a pro9 ducer shall submit to the Secretary an application, 

10 at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

11 information as the Secretary may require, including 

12 a description of each qualified loss incurred by the 

13 producer during the crop year. 

14 (2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve 

15 an application submitted by a producer under para16 graph (1) if the application demonstrates to the sat17 isfaction of the Secretary that the producer has in18 curred a qualified loss during the applicable crop 

19 year. 

20 (c) PROVISION OF PAYMENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

22 to each producer the application of whom is ap23 proved under subsection (b)(2) a payment for the 

24 applicable crop year, in accordance with subsection 

25 (d). 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENT TO PURCHASE INSUR2 ANCE.—As a condition of receiving a payment under 

3 this section, a producer shall purchase, for each of 

4 the 2 succeeding crop years— 

5 (A) Federal Crop Insurance, if available; 

6 or 

7 (B) if Federal Crop Insurance is not avail8 able, coverage under the Noninsured Crop Dis9 aster Assistance Program. 

10 (d) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (e), 

12 the amount of a payment provided to a producer 

13 under subsection (c)(1) shall be determined in ac14 cordance with— 

15 (A) to the maximum extent practicable, a 

16 calculation based on data relating to the pro17 ducer for the applicable crop year that were 

18 previously submitted or known to the Secretary, 

19 including— 

20 (i) any indemnity of the producer 

21 under Federal Crop Insurance or payment 

22 received by the producer under the Non23 insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program; 

24 (ii) the level of coverage of the pro25 ducer under— 


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1 (I) Federal Crop Insurance; or 

2 (II) the Noninsured Crop Dis3 aster Assistance Program; and 

4 (iii) an appropriate percentage factor, 

5 to be established by the Secretary, subject 

6 to the condition that the factor shall be not 

7 more than 90 percent; or 

8 (B) for a producer that did not purchase 

9 coverage under Federal Crop Insurance or the 

10 Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, 

11 a calculation based on the revenue of the pro12 ducer for the applicable crop year, as described 

13 in paragraph (2). 

14 (2) REVENUE-BASED CALCULATION.— 

15 (A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

16 (i) ALLOWABLE GROSS REVENUE.— 

17 The term ‘‘allowable gross revenue’’, with 

18 respect to a producer, means the reported 

19 revenue of the operations of the producer 

20 during a crop year, including from— 

21 (I) sales of eligible crops, as iden22 tified by the Secretary; or 

23 (II) sales resulting from value 

24 added in post-production activities. 


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1 (ii) BENCHMARK YEAR.—The term 

2 ‘‘benchmark year’’ means a crop year in 

3 which a producer did not experience a 

4 qualified loss. 

5 (iii) DISASTER YEAR.—The term ‘‘dis6 aster year’’ means a crop year in which a 

7 producer experiences a qualified loss. 

8 (B) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.—Sub9 ject to subparagraph (C), the revenue-based cal10 culation referred to in paragraph (1)(B) shall 

11 take into account— 

12 (i) the allowable gross revenue of the 

13 applicable producer during a benchmark 

14 year; 

15 (ii) the allowable gross revenue of the 

16 applicable producer during the disaster 

17 year for which the payment is provided 

18 under this section; 

19 (iii) the percentage of the allowable 

20 gross revenue described in clause (ii) de21 rived from sales of specialty crops and 

22 high-value crops; and 

23 (iv) an appropriate percentage factor, 

24 to be established by the Secretary, subject 


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1 to the condition that the factor shall be not 

2 more than 70 percent. 

3 (C) VERTICAL INTEGRATION FOR PRO4 DUCERS OF WINE GRAPES.—For a producer of 

5 wine grapes that uses not less than 75 percent 

6 of the grapes to produce wine at a facility 

7 owned by the producer, a payment provided 

8 under this section shall be calculated based on 

9 the market rate for wine grapes at the time of 

10 calculation, in lieu of the revenue of the pro11 ducer. 

12 (e) LIMITATIONS.—For each crop year— 

13 (1) a producer the average adjusted gross farm 

14 income of whom is less than 75 percent may receive 

15 payments under this section in an amount equal to 

16 not more than— 

17 (A) $125,000 for the specialty crops and 

18 high-value crops of the producer, as determined 

19 by the Secretary; and 

20 (B) $125,000 for the crops of the producer 

21 not described in subparagraph (A); 

22 (2) a producer the average adjusted gross farm 

23 income of whom is 75 percent or more may receive 

24 payments under this section in an amount equal to 

25 not more than— 


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1 (A) $900,000 for the specialty crops and 

2 high-value crops of the producer, as determined 

3 by the Secretary; and 

4 (B) $250,000 for the crops of the producer 

5 not described in subparagraph (A); and 

6 (3) the total amount of all payments provided 

7 to a producer under this section shall be not more 

8 than, as applicable— 

9 (A) an amount equal to 90 percent of the 

10 qualified losses of the producer during the crop 

11 year, including any assistance provided under— 

12 (i) Federal Crop Insurance; or 

13 (ii) the Noninsured Crop Disaster As14 sistance Program; or 

15 (B) an amount equal to 70 percent of the 

16 qualified losses of the producer during the crop 

17 year, if the producer did not— 

18 (i) obtain a policy or plan of insurance 

19 under Federal Crop Insurance for the 

20 crops, trees, bushes, or vines incurring the 

21 qualified losses; or 

22 (ii) file any required paperwork or pay 

23 any service fee under the Noninsured Crop 

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1 able commodity incurring the qualified 

2 losses. 

3 (f) TIMING.—The Secretary shall administer the pro4 gram under this section simultaneously for— 

5 (1) producers submitting applications using in6 demnity-based calculations, as described in sub7 section (d)(1)(A); and 

8 (2) producers submitting applications using rev9 enue-based calculations, as described in subsection 

10 (d)(1)(B). 

11 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro13 priated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to 

14 carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 2023 through 

15 2028. 

16 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the amounts made 

17 available under subsection (a) for each fiscal year, the Sec18 retary may use not more than 1 percent to pay the admin19 istrative costs of the Secretary. 

Æ 


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