II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2818

To amend the Agricultural Market Transition Act to establish a flexible

fallow program under which a producer may idle a portion of the total

planted acreage of the loan commodities of the producer in exchange

for higher loan rates for marketing assistance loans on the remaining

acreage of the producer.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 29, 2000

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

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Market Transition Act to establish a flexible fallow program under which a producer

may idle a portion of the total planted acreage of the

loan commodities of the producer in exchange for higher

loan rates for marketing assistance loans on the remaining acreage of the producer.

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 ‘‘Food Security and

5 Land Stewardship Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FLEXIBLE FALLOW PROGRAM.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 132 of the Agricultural

3 Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7232) is amended by

4 adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(g) FLEXIBLE FALLOW PROGRAM.—

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF TOTAL PLANTED ACRE7 AGE.—In this subsection, the term ‘total planted

8 acreage’ means the cropland acreage of a producer

9 that for the 1999 crop year was—

10 ‘‘(A) planted to a loan commodity;

11 ‘‘(B) prevented from being planted to a

12 loan commodity; or

13 ‘‘(C) fallow as part of a fallow rotation

14 practice with respect to a loan commodity, as

15 determined by the Secretary.

16 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—In lieu of receiving a loan

17 rate under subsections (a) through (f), a producer,

18 with respect to production eligible for a loan under

19 section 131, may elect to participate in a flexible fal20 low program for any of the 2001 or 2002 crops

21 under which annually—

22 ‘‘(A) the producer determines which acres

23 of the total planted acreage are assigned to a

24 specific loan commodity;

25 ‘‘(B) the producer determines—
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1 ‘‘(i) the projected percentage reduc2 tion rate of production of the specific loan

3 commodity based on the acreage assigned

4 to the loan commodity under subparagraph

5 (A); and

6 ‘‘(ii) the acreage of the total planted

7 acreage of the producer to be set aside

8 under clause (i), regardless of whether the

9 acreage is on the same farm as the acreage

10 planted to the specific loan commodity;

11 ‘‘(C) based on the projected percentage re12 duction rate of production as a result of the

13 acreage set aside under subparagraph (B), the

14 producer receives the loan rate for each loan

15 commodity produced by the producer, as deter16 mined under paragraph (3); and

17 ‘‘(D) the acreage planted to loan commod18 ities for harvest and set aside under this sub19 section is limited to the total planted acreage of

20 the producer.

21 ‘‘(3) LOAN RATES.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara23 graphs (B) and (C), in the case of a producer

24 of a loan commodity that elects to participate

25 in the flexible fallow program under this sub-
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1 section, the loan rate for a marketing assistance

2 loan under section 131 for a crop of the loan

3 commodity shall be based on the projected per4 centage reduction rate of production determined

5 by the producer under paragraph (2)(B), in ac6 cordance with the following table:

‘‘Projected

Percentage

Reduction

Rate

Corn

Loan

Rate

($/bushel)

Wheat Loan

Rate

($/bushel)

Soybean

Loan Rate

($/bushel)

Upland

Cotton

Loan

Rate

($/pound)

Rice Loan

Rate

($/hundredweight)

0% 1.89 2.75 4.72 0.5192 6.50

1% 1.91 2.78 4.77 0.5268 6.60

2% 1.93 2.81 4.81 0.5344 6.70

3% 1.95 2.83 4.86 0.5420 6.80

4% 1.97 2.86 4.91 0.5496 6.90

5% 1.99 2.89 4.96 0.5572 7.00

6% 2.01 2.92 5.01 0.5648 7.10

7% 2.03 2.95 5.06 0.5724 7.20

8% 2.05 2.98 5.11 0.5800 7.30

9% 2.07 3.01 5.16 0.5876 7.40

10% 2.09 3.04 5.21 0.5952 7.50

11% 2.12 3.08 5.29 0.6028 7.60

12% 2.15 3.13 5.36 0.6104 7.70

13% 2.18 3.17 5.43 0.6180 7.80

14% 2.21 3.22 5.51 0.6256 7.90

15% 2.24 3.27 5.58 0.6332 8.00

16% 2.28 3.31 5.65 0.6408 8.10

17% 2.31 3.36 5.73 0.6484 8.20

18% 2.34 3.41 5.81 0.6560 8.30

19% 2.37 3.46 5.88 0.6636 8.40

20% 2.41 3.51 5.96 0.6712 8.50

21% 2.44 3.55 6.04 0.6788 8.60

22% 2.47 3.60 6.12 0.6864 8.70

23% 2.51 3.65 6.19 0.6940 8.80

24% 2.54 3.70 6.27 0.7016 8.90

25% 2.57 3.75 6.35 0.7092 9.00

26% 2.61 3.80 6.43 0.7168 9.10

27% 2.64 3.85 6.51 0.7244 9.20

28% 2.68 3.90 6.60 0.7320 9.30

29% 2.71 3.95 6.68 0.7396 9.40

30% 2.75 4.01 6.76 0.7472 9.50.

7 ‘‘(B) COUNTY AVERAGE YIELDS.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The loan rate for

2 a marketing assistance loan made to a pro3 ducer for a crop of a loan commodity

4 under subparagraph (A) shall apply with

5 respect to the production of the crop of the

6 loan commodity by the producer in a quan7 tity that does not exceed the historical

8 county average yield for the loan com9 modity established by the National Agri10 cultural Statistics Service, adjusted for

11 long-term yield trends.

12 ‘‘(ii) EXCESS PRODUCTION.—The loan

13 rate for a marketing assistance loan made

14 to a producer for a crop of a loan com15 modity under subparagraph (A) with re16 spect to the production of the crop of the

17 loan commodity in excess of the historical

18 county average yield for the loan com19 modity described in clause (i) shall be

20 equal to the loan rate established for a 0%

21 projected percentage reduction rate for the

22 loan commodity under subparagraph (A).

23 ‘‘(iii) DISASTERS.—

24 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If the pro25 duction of a crop of a loan commodity
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1 by a producer is less than the histor2 ical county average yield for the loan

3 commodity described in clause (i) as

4 a result of damaging weather, an in5 surable peril, or related condition, the

6 producer may receive a payment on

7 the lost production that shall equal

8 the difference between—

9 ‘‘(aa) the maximum quantity

10 of loan commodity that could

11 have been designated for the loan

12 rate authorized under this sub13 section for the producer; and

14 ‘‘(bb) the quantity of loan

15 commodity the producer was able

16 to produce and commercially

17 market.

18 ‘‘(II) CALCULATION OF PAY19 MENT.—The payment described in

20 subclause (I) shall be equal to the

21 loan deficiency payment the producer

22 could have received on the lost pro23 duction on any date, selected by the

24 producer, on which a loan deficiency
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1 payment was available for that crop of

2 the loan commodity.

3 ‘‘(C) OTHER LOAN COMMODITIES.—In the

4 case of a producer of a loan commodity not cov5 ered by subparagraphs (A) and (B) that elects

6 to participate in the flexible fallow program

7 under this subsection, the loan rate for a mar8 keting assistance loan under section 131 for the

9 crop of the loan commodity shall be based on—

10 ‘‘(i) in the case of grain sorghum, bar11 ley, and oats, such level as the Secretary

12 determines is fair and reasonable in rela13 tion to the rate that loans are made avail14 able for corn, taking into consideration the

15 feeding value of the commodity in relation

16 to corn;

17 ‘‘(ii) in the case of extra long staple

18 cotton, such level as the Secretary deter19 mines is fair and reasonable; and

20 ‘‘(iii) in the case of oilseeds other than

21 soybeans, such level as the Secretary deter22 mines is fair and reasonable in relation to

23 the loan rate available for soybeans, except

24 that the rate for the oilseeds (other than

25 cottonseed) shall not be less than the rate
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1 established for soybeans on a per-pound

2 basis for the same crop.

3 ‘‘(4) CONSERVATION USES.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara5 graph (B), to be eligible for a loan rate under

6 this subsection, a producer shall devote all acre7 age set aside under this section to an annual

8 conservation use approved by the Secretary.

9 ‘‘(B) OTHER CONTRACTS.—A producer

10 may enter into a contract that requires

11 multiyear conservation uses of the set aside

12 acreage approved by the Secretary, including

13 carbon sequestration and recreational uses.

14 ‘‘(5) CERTIFICATION.—To be eligible to partici15 pate in the flexible fallow program for the 2001 or

16 2002 crops, a producer shall certify to the Secretary

17 (by farm serial number) the total planted acreage

18 assigned, planted, and set aside with respect to each

19 loan commodity.’’.

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 132 of the

21 Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7232) is

22 amended—

23 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘$2.58’’

24 and inserting ‘‘$2.75’’; and
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1 (2) in subsection (f)(1), by striking subpara2 graph (B) and inserting the following:

3 ‘‘(B) not more than $4.72 per bushel.’’.

4 (c) CROPS.—This section and the amendments made

5 by this section shall apply to each of the 2001 and 2002

6 crops of a loan commodity (as defined in section 102 of

7 the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7202)).

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