II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 801 

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to provide for crop production 

on native sod. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 24, 2013 

Mr. THUNE (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

JOHANNS, and Mr. HARKIN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to provide for 

crop production on native sod. 

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 ‘‘Prairie Protection Act 

5 of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CROP PRODUCTION ON NATIVE SOD. 

7 (a) FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE.—Section 508(o) of 

8 the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(o)) is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘, or the 

2 producer cannot substantiate that the ground has 

3 ever been tilled,’’ after ‘‘tilled’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘for bene5 fits under—’’ and all that follows through the period 

6 at the end and inserting ‘‘for— 

7 ‘‘(i) a portion of crop insurance pre8 mium subsidies under this subtitle in ac9 cordance with paragraph (3); 

10 ‘‘(ii) benefits under section 196 of the 

11 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re12 form Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333); and 

13 ‘‘(iii) payments described in sub14 section (b) of section 1001 of the Food Se15 curity Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308).’’; and 

16 (3) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the first 4 

20 crop years of planting on native sod acreage by 

21 a producer described in paragraph (2)— 

22 ‘‘(i) paragraph (2) shall apply to 65 

23 percent of the applicable transitional yield; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the crop insurance premium sub2 sidy provided for the producer under this 

3 subtitle shall be 50 percentage points less 

4 than the premium subsidy that would oth5 erwise apply. 

6 ‘‘(B) YIELD SUBSTITUTION.—During the 

7 period native sod acreage is covered by this sub8 section, a producer may not substitute yields 

9 for the native sod acreage.’’. 

10 (b) NONINSURED CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE.— 

11 Section 196(a)(4) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement 

12 and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333(a)(4)) is amend13 ed— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting ‘‘, or 

15 the producer cannot substantiate that the ground 

16 has ever been tilled,’’ after ‘‘tilled’’; 

17 (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ‘‘for 

18 benefits under—’’ and all that follows through the 

19 period at the end and inserting ‘‘for— 

20 ‘‘(I) benefits under this section; 

21 ‘‘(II) a portion of crop insurance 

22 premium subsidies under the Federal 

23 Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et 

24 seq.) in accordance with subparagraph 

25 (C); and 


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1 ‘‘(III) payments described in sub2 section (b) of section 1001 of the 

3 Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 

4 1308).’’; and 

5 (3) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—During the first 4 

9 crop years of planting on native sod acre10 age by a producer described in subpara11 graph (B)— 

12 ‘‘(I) subparagraph (B) shall 

13 apply to 65 percent of the applicable 

14 transitional yield; and 

15 ‘‘(II) the crop insurance premium 

16 subsidy provided for the producer 

17 under the Federal Crop Insurance Act 

18 (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) shall be 50 

19 percentage points less than the pre20 mium subsidy that would otherwise 

21 apply. 

22 ‘‘(ii) YIELD SUBSTITUTION.—During 

23 the period native sod acreage is covered by 

24 this paragraph, a producer may not sub25 stitute yields for the native sod acreage.’’. 


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1 (c) CROPLAND REPORT.— 

2 (1) BASELINE.—Not later than 180 days after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

4 Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Agri5 culture of the House of Representatives and the 

6 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

7 of the Senate a report that describes the cropland 

8 acreage in each county and State, and the change in 

9 cropland acreage from the preceding year in each 

10 county and State, beginning with calendar year 

11 2000 and including that information for the most 

12 recent year for which that information is available. 

13 (2) ANNUAL UPDATES.—Not later than Janu14 ary 1, 2014, and each January 1 thereafter through 

15 January 1, 2018, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

16 submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

17 House of Representatives and the Committee on Ag18 riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a 

19 report that describes— 

20 (A) the cropland acreage in each county 

21 and State as of the date of submission of the 

22 report; 

23 (B) the change in cropland acreage from 

24 the preceding year in each county and State; 

25 and 


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1 (C) the number of acres of native sod that 

2 have been converted to cropland or to any other 

3 use in the preceding year in each county and 

4 State. 

Æ 


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