I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 686 

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to modify the ineligibility requirements for producers that produce an annual crop on native sod, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mrs. NOEM (for herself, Mr. WALZ, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. 

LATTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to modify the 

ineligibility requirements for producers that produce an 

annual crop on native sod, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Protect our Prairies 

5 Act’’. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 686 IH

1 SEC. 2. CROP PRODUCTION ON NATIVE SOD. 

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

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

4 amended— 

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

6 producer cannot substantiate that the ground has 

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

8 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘for bene9 fits under—’’ and all that follows through the period 

10 at the end and inserting ‘‘for— 

11 ‘‘(i) a portion of crop insurance pre12 mium subsidies under this subtitle in ac13 cordance with paragraph (3); 

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

15 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re16 form Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333); and 

17 ‘‘(iii) payments described in sub18 section (b) or (c) of section 1001 of the 

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

20 1308).’’; and 

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

22 following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.— 

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

25 crop years of planting on native sod acreage (as 

26 described in paragraph (2)) by a producer— 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 686 IH

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

2 percent of the transitional yield of the pro3 ducer; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the crop insurance premium sub5 sidy provided for the producer under this 

6 subtitle shall be 50 percentage points less 

7 than the premium subsidy that would oth8 erwise apply. 

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

10 period native sod acreage is covered by this sub11 section, a producer may not substitute yields 

12 for the native sod acreage.’’. 

13 (b) NONINSURED CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE.— 

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

15 and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333(a)(4)) is amend16 ed— 

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

18 the producer cannot substantiate that the ground 

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

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

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

22 period at the end and inserting ‘‘for— 

23 ‘‘(I) benefits under this section; 

24 ‘‘(II) a portion of crop insurance 

25 premium subsidies under the Federal 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 686 IH

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

2 seq.) in accordance with subparagraph 

3 (C); and 

4 ‘‘(III) payments described in sub5 section (b) or (c) of section 1001 of 

6 the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 

7 U.S.C. 1308).’’; and 

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

9 the following new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.— 

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

12 crop years of planting on native sod acre13 age (as described in subparagraph (B)) by 

14 a producer— 

15 ‘‘(I) subparagraph (B) shall 

16 apply to 65 percent of the transitional 

17 yield of the producer; and 

18 ‘‘(II) the crop insurance premium 

19 subsidy provided for the producer 

20 under the Federal Crop Insurance Act 

21 (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) shall be 50 

22 percentage points less than the pre23 mium subsidy that would otherwise 

24 apply. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 686 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) YIELD SUBSTITUTION.—During 

2 the period native sod acreage is covered by 

3 this paragraph, a producer may not sub4 stitute yields for the native sod acreage.’’. 

5 (c) CROPLAND REPORT.— 

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

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

8 Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Agri9 culture of the House of Representatives and the 

10 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

11 of the Senate a report that describes the cropland 

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

13 cropland acreage from the preceding year in each 

14 county and State, beginning with calendar year 

15 2000 and including that information for the most 

16 recent year for which that information is available. 

17 (2) ANNUAL UPDATES.—Not later than Janu18 ary 1, 2014, and each January 1 thereafter through 

19 January 1, 2017, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

20 submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

21 House of Representatives and the Committee on Ag22 riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a 

23 report that describes— 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 686 IH

1 (A) the cropland acreage in each county 

2 and State as of the date of submission of the 

3 report; and 

4 (B) the change in cropland acreage from 

5 the preceding year in each county and State. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS