I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 686 
To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to modify the ineligibility require-
ments 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 Com-
mittee 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect our Prairies 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CROP PRODUCTION ON NATIVE SOD. 
(a) FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE.—Section 508(o) of 
the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(o)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘, or the 
producer cannot substantiate that the ground has 
ever been tilled,’’ after ‘‘tilled’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘for bene-
fits under—’’ and all that follows through the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘for— 
‘‘(i) a portion of crop insurance pre-
mium subsidies under this subtitle in ac-
cordance with paragraph (3); 
‘‘(ii) benefits under section 196 of the 
Federal Agriculture Improvement and Re-
form Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333); and 
‘‘(iii) payments described in sub-
section (b) or (c) of section 1001 of the 
Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 
1308).’’; and 
(3) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—During the first 4 
crop years of planting on native sod acreage (as 
described in paragraph (2)) by a producer— 
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‘‘(i) paragraph (2) shall apply to 65 
percent of the transitional yield of the pro-
ducer; and 
‘‘(ii) the crop insurance premium sub-
sidy provided for the producer under this 
subtitle shall be 50 percentage points less 
than the premium subsidy that would oth-
erwise apply. 
‘‘(B) YIELD
SUBSTITUTION.—During the 
period native sod acreage is covered by this sub-
section, a producer may not substitute yields 
for the native sod acreage.’’. 
(b) NONINSURED CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE.— 
Section 196(a)(4) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement 
and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333(a)(4)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting ‘‘, or 
the producer cannot substantiate that the ground 
has ever been tilled,’’ after ‘‘tilled’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ‘‘for 
benefits under—’’ and all that follows through the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘for— 
‘‘(I) benefits under this section; 
‘‘(II) a portion of crop insurance 
premium subsidies under the Federal 
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Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et 
seq.) in accordance with subparagraph 
(C); and 
‘‘(III) payments described in sub-
section (b) or (c) of section 1001 of 
the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 
U.S.C. 1308).’’; and 
(3) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—During the first 4 
crop years of planting on native sod acre-
age (as described in subparagraph (B)) by 
a producer— 
‘‘(I) 
subparagraph 
(B) 
shall 
apply to 65 percent of the transitional 
yield of the producer; and 
‘‘(II) the crop insurance premium 
subsidy provided for the producer 
under the Federal Crop Insurance Act 
(7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) shall be 50 
percentage points less than the pre-
mium subsidy that would otherwise 
apply. 
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