II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2263 

To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to require base acres planted to 

fruits, vegetables, and wild rice to be considered planted to a covered 

commodity for purposes of any recalculation of base acres. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 21, 2017 

Mr. DONNELLY (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) 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 require base 

acres planted to fruits, vegetables, and wild rice to be 

considered planted to a covered commodity for purposes 

of any recalculation of base acres. 

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 ‘‘Fruit and Vegetable 

5 Planting Flexibility Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EFFECT OF PLANTING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 

2 Section 1114 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 

3 U.S.C. 9014) is amended by striking subsection (e) and 

4 inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(e) EFFECT OF PLANTING FRUITS AND VEGETA6 BLES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REDUCTION REQUIRED.—In the manner 

8 provided in this subsection, payment acres on a farm 

9 shall be reduced in any crop year in which fruits, 

10 vegetables (other than mung beans and pulse crops), 

11 or wild rice have been planted on base acres on a 

12 farm. 

13 ‘‘(2) PRICE LOSS COVERAGE AND COUNTY COV14 ERAGE.—In the case of price loss coverage payments 

15 and agricultural risk coverage payments using coun16 ty coverage, the reduction under paragraph (1) shall 

17 be the amount equal to the base acres planted to 

18 crops referred to in that paragraph in excess of 15 

19 percent of base acres. 

20 ‘‘(3) INDIVIDUAL COVERAGE.—In the case of 

21 agricultural risk coverage payments using individual 

22 coverage, the reduction under paragraph (1) shall be 

23 the amount equal to the base acres planted to crops 

24 referred to in that paragraph in excess of 35 percent 

25 of base acres. 


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1 ‘‘(4) REDUCTION EXCEPTIONS.—No reduction 

2 to payment acres shall be made under this sub3 section if— 

4 ‘‘(A) cover crops or crops described in 

5 paragraph (1) are grown solely for conservation 

6 purposes and not harvested for use or sale, as 

7 determined by the Secretary; or 

8 ‘‘(B) in any region in which there is a his9 tory of double-cropping covered commodities 

10 with crops described in paragraph (1), those 

11 crops were so double-cropped on the base acres, 

12 as determined by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(5) RECALCULATION OF BASE ACRES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each crop year 

15 for which fruits, vegetables (other than mung 

16 beans and pulse crops), or wild rice are planted 

17 to base acres on a farm for which a reduction 

18 in payment acres is made under this subsection, 

19 the Secretary shall consider those base acres to 

20 be planted or prevented from planting to a cov21 ered commodity for purposes of any realloca22 tion, adjustment, or reduction of base acres for 

23 the farm under section 1112. 

24 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—Nothing in this para25 graph provides authority to the Secretary to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Dec 23, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2263.IS S2263

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1 allocate, adjust, reduce, or otherwise recalculate 

2 base acres for a farm.’’. 

Æ 


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