II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 746 

To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to establish 

a market-driven inventory system. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 17, 2013 

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

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 

to establish a market-driven inventory system. 

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

3 SECTION 1. MARKET-DRIVEN INVENTORY SYSTEM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title I of the Food, 

5 Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8731 et 

6 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 1211. MARKET-DRIVEN INVENTORY SYSTEM. 

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

9 ‘‘(1) INVENTORY CAP.—The term ‘inventory 

10 cap’ means the market commodity-specific limitamstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tions on participation in the program described in 

2 subsection (b)(3). 

3 ‘‘(2) MARKET COMMODITY.—The term ‘market 

4 commodity’ means corn, oats, barley, grain sorghum, 

5 wheat, and soybeans. 

6 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

7 the market-driven inventory system program estab8 lished in accordance with this section. 

9 ‘‘(4) STORAGE PERIOD.—The term ‘storage pe10 riod’ means, for a market commodity enrolled in the 

11 program, the period that— 

12 ‘‘(A) begins on the date of enrollment of 

13 the market commodity in the program; and 

14 ‘‘(B) ends on the date on which the Sec15 retary authorizes loan repayment and release 

16 under subsection (d). 

17 ‘‘(b) RECOURSE LOANS AVAILABLE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

19 for each of the 2014 through 2018 crops of each 

20 market commodity, the Secretary shall make avail21 able recourse loans in accordance with this section to 

22 producers on a farm that elect to participate in the 

23 program for 1 or more market commodities. 

24 ‘‘(2) ENROLLMENT.— 

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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Enrollment in the 

2 program shall be voluntary and considered on a 

3 rolling basis. 

4 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

6 may implement enrollment restrictions if 

7 the market prices of a market commodity 

8 are close to the recourse loan rate or the 

9 release price described in subsection (d)(2). 

10 ‘‘(ii) END OF RESTRICTIONS.—Any 

11 enrollment restrictions implemented under 

12 clause (i) for a market commodity shall 

13 end as soon as the Secretary determines 

14 that the 1-month average of the market 

15 commodity is below the recourse loan rate 

16 for that market commodity. 

17 ‘‘(3) INVENTORY CAP.—Participation in the 

18 program for corn, wheat, and soybeans shall be lim19 ited to not more than the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) Corn, 3,000,000,000 bushels. 

21 ‘‘(B) Oats, 20,000,000 bushels. 

22 ‘‘(C) Barley, 40,000,000 bushels. 

23 ‘‘(D) Grain sorghum, 40,000,000 bushels. 

24 ‘‘(E) Wheat, 800,000,000 bushels. 

25 ‘‘(F) Soybeans, 400,000,000 bushels. 

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1 ‘‘(c) STORAGE PERIOD.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of participa3 tion, for each market commodity that the producers 

4 on a farm enroll in the program, the producers on 

5 the farm shall, throughout the storage period— 

6 ‘‘(A) store the market commodity; 

7 ‘‘(B) maintain the market commodity in 

8 proper condition, as determined by the Sec9 retary; and 

10 ‘‘(C) not sell or otherwise release into the 

11 market the market commodity. 

12 ‘‘(2) OWNERSHIP.—During the storage pe13 riod— 

14 ‘‘(A) title to the market commodity shall 

15 remain with the producers on the farm, subject 

16 to the conditions on participation described in 

17 paragraph (1); and 

18 ‘‘(B) the Secretary shall have a first lien 

19 on the market commodity for which a recourse 

20 loan under this section is received. 

21 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the storage 

23 period, the Secretary shall make storage pay24 ments to the producers on the farm at a rate 

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1 of $0.40 per bushel of market commodity per 

2 crop year. 

3 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—The Secretary shall ter4 minate the making of storage payments for a 

5 market commodity to producers on a farm on 

6 the date on which the release price for the mar7 ket commodity is triggered in accordance with 

8 subsection (d). 

9 ‘‘(d) LOAN REPAYMENT AND RELEASE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (4), 

11 the Secretary shall authorize loan repayment and re12 lease for a market commodity on the date on which 

13 the release price for that market commodity is trig14 gered. 

15 ‘‘(2) RELEASE PRICE.—The release price for a 

16 market commodity shall be equal to 160 percent of 

17 the applicable recourse loan rate described in sub18 section (e). 

19 ‘‘(3) PRODUCER OPTIONS.—Subject to para20 graph (4), once the Secretary has authorized loan 

21 repayment and release for a market commodity, the 

22 producers on a farm may— 

23 ‘‘(A) sell or otherwise release into the mar24 ket the market commodity; or 

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1 ‘‘(B) continue to store the market com2 modity, but without receiving additional storage 

3 payments for the market commodity. 

4 ‘‘(4) PARTIAL RELEASE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Regardless of whether 

6 the inventory cap for a market commodity has 

7 been reached, if the Secretary determines, 

8 based on available information, that the total 

9 quantity of the market commodity stored is so 

10 great that release of all of the stored market 

11 commodity into the market would depress mar12 ket prices below the release level, the Secretary 

13 may establish a maximum release quantity to 

14 limit the sale and release of the stored market 

15 commodity. 

16 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.—In the case of a 

17 partial release described in subparagraph (A)— 

18 ‘‘(i) the producers on a farm that first 

19 enrolled in the program shall be eligible 

20 first to sell or otherwise release into the 

21 market the stored market commodity; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the producers on a farm that do 

23 not have the option of selling or otherwise 

24 releasing into the market the stored mar25 ket commodity shall continue to be eligible 

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1 to receive storage payments for the market 

2 commodity. 

3 ‘‘(e) RECOURSE LOAN RATES.—For purposes of each 

4 of the 2014 through 2018 crop years, the recourse loan 

5 rate for a market commodity under this section shall be 

6 equal to the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) Corn, $3.50 per bushel. 

8 ‘‘(2) Oats, $2.49 per bushel. 

9 ‘‘(3) Barley, $3.50 per bushel. 

10 ‘‘(4) Grain sorghum, $3.50 per bushel. 

11 ‘‘(5) Wheat, $5.28 per bushel. 

12 ‘‘(6) Soybeans, $8.97 per bushel. 

13 ‘‘(f) SET-ASIDE PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the inventory cap for a 

15 market commodity is reached and the market price 

16 of the market commodity is below the recourse loan 

17 rate for the market commodity, the Secretary may 

18 establish a set-aside program under which producers 

19 on a farm may remove acres from production for the 

20 following crop year. 

21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to enroll 

22 acres in the set-aside program under paragraph (1), 

23 the producers on a farm shall be required to have 

24 produced the applicable market commodity during at 

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1 least 1 of the last 2 crop years, as determined by the 

2 Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) COVER CROP.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on 

6 participation in the set-aside program, pro7 ducers on a farm shall be required to 

8 maintain an approved cover crop on all en9 rolled acreage. 

10 ‘‘(ii) PLANTING FLEXIBILITY.—Pro11 ducers on a farm may plant any crop on 

12 acreage not enrolled in the set-aside pro13 gram. 

14 ‘‘(B) SECRETARIAL DISCRETION.—If the 

15 Secretary establishes a set-aside program under 

16 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall determine, at 

17 the discretion of the Secretary— 

18 ‘‘(i) the amount of the payment to be 

19 made to producers that elect to participate 

20 in the set-aside program; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of the total acre22 age planted to the market commodity that 

23 the producers are required to remove from 

24 production as a condition of participation; 

25 and 

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1 ‘‘(iii) the extent to which grazing and 

2 other noncommercial uses of the land en3 rolled in the set-aside program shall be 

4 permitted.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) Section 1001 of the Food, Conservation, 

7 and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8702) is amend8 ed— 

9 (A) in paragraph (4)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘wheat, corn, grain sor11 ghum, barley, oats’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘soybeans’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (8)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘wheat, corn, grain sor15 ghum, barley, oats’’; and 

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘soybeans’’. 

17 (2) Section 1103(b) of the Food, Conservation, 

18 and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8713) is amend19 ed— 

20 (A) by striking paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 

21 (4), (5), and (9); and 

22 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), 

23 (8), and (10) as paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and 

24 (4), respectively. 

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1 (3) Section 1104(c)(3) of the Food, Conserva2 tion, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8714(c)(3)) 

3 is amended— 

4 (A) by striking subparagraphs (A), (B), 

5 (C), (D), (E), and (I); and 

6 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (F), 

7 (G), and (H) and (J) through (N) as subpara8 graphs (A), (B), and (C) and (D) through (H), 

9 respectively. 

10 (4) Section 1202(c) of the Food, Conservation, 

11 and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8732(c)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (A) by striking paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 

14 (4), (5), and (10); and 

15 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 

16 through (9) and (11) through (19) as para17 graphs (1) through (4) and (5) through (13), 

18 respectively. 

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

20 section apply beginning with the 2014 crop of a market 

21 commodity (as defined in section 1211(a) of the Food, 

22 Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (as added by sub23 section (a))). 

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