II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1998 

To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to reduce county yield disparities 

for agriculture risk coverage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 24, 2017 

Ms. HEITKAMP (for herself and Mrs. ERNST) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to reduce county 

yield disparities for agriculture risk coverage. 

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 ‘‘ARC-CO Improvement 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COUNTY YIELD DISPARITIES. 

7 (a) ACTUAL CROP REVENUES.—Section 1117(b) of 

8 the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9017(b)) is amend9 ed— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘(includ2 ing any adjustments under paragraph (3))’’ after 

3 ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) COUNTY YIELD DISPARITIES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of county 

7 coverage, the Secretary may adjust county 

8 yields under paragraph (1)(A) to reduce dis9 parities between neighboring and nearby coun10 ties with similar soils and climate that cannot 

11 be explained by a localized weather event. 

12 ‘‘(B) AGGREGATE ESTIMATED PAYMENT.— 

13 The Secretary shall ensure that all adjustments 

14 made under this paragraph are balanced so the 

15 aggregate amount of payments made under this 

16 section as a result of the adjustments for a crop 

17 year do not increase. 

18 ‘‘(C) OPTIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary 

20 makes adjustments under this paragraph, 

21 the Secretary shall make the adjustments 

22 in accordance with clause (ii) or (iii). 

23 ‘‘(ii) VARIATIONS WITHIN A STATE.— 

24 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

25 subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall 


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1 allow State committees of the Farm 

2 Service Agency to review and rec3 ommend adjustments to the initial 

4 yield estimates before the adjustments 

5 become final to reduce unexplained 

6 variation between neighboring or 

7 nearby counties with similar soils and 

8 climate. 

9 ‘‘(II) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.— 

10 The Secretary shall review and ap11 prove or reject adjustments rec12 ommended under subclause (I) before 

13 the adjustments become final. 

14 ‘‘(iii) VARIATIONS ALONG STATE

15 BOUNDARIES.— 

16 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

17 subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall 

18 allow State committees of the Farm 

19 Service Agency or the national office 

20 of the Farm Service Agency, in con21 sultation with affected State commit22 tees, to review and recommend adjust23 ments to the initial yield estimates be24 fore the adjustments become final to 


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1 reduce unexplained variation between 

2 counties in neighboring States. 

3 ‘‘(II) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.— 

4 The Secretary shall review and ap5 prove or reject adjustments rec6 ommended under subclause (I) before 

7 the adjustments become final.’’. 

8 (b) ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—Sec9 tion 1117(g) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 

10 9017(g)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

12 the semicolon at the end; 

13 (2) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking the period 

14 at the end and insert a semicolon; and 

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

16 ‘‘(5) in the case of county coverage, prioritize 

17 the use of yields from sources that provide the great18 est geographic coverage of county-level data from 

19 the same source; and 

20 ‘‘(6) in the case of county coverage— 

21 ‘‘(A) use the yield, benchmark revenue and 

22 payment rate based on the county of the phys23 ical location of the farm; and 

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of a farm that crosses 

25 county boundaries— 


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1 ‘‘(i) split the base acres on a pro rata 

2 basis based on the relative quantity of 

3 cropland in each county; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) calculate any payments on that 

5 same pro rata basis.’’. 

Æ 


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