I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2195
To establish limits on Commodity Credit Corporation farm and export expend-
itures for the 1996 through 2002 crop years, to authorize the use
of market transition contracts to support farming certainty and flexibility
and ensure continued compliance with farm conservation compliance
plans and wetland protection, to make marketing assistance loans avail-
able for certain crops, to establish a commission to examine the future
of production agriculture, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 4, 1995
Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr.
HOSTETTLER, and Mr. SMITH of Michigan) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To establish limits on Commodity Credit Corporation farm
and export expenditures for the 1996 through 2002 crop
years, to authorize the use of market transition contracts
to support farming certainty and flexibility and ensure
continued compliance with farm conservation compliance
plans and wetland protection, to make marketing assist-
ance loans available for certain crops, to establish a
commission to examine the future of production agri-
culture, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Freedom to Farm Act of 1995’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION FARM
EXPENDITURES
Sec. 101. Total and annual limits on Commodity Credit Corporation farm and
export expenditures for 1996 through 2002 crop years.
TITLE II—ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF FARMING UNDER
AGRICULTURAL ACT OF 1949
Sec. 201. Seven-year contracts to improve farming certainty and flexibility.
Sec. 202. Availability of nonrecourse marketing assistance loans for wheat, feed
grains, cotton, rice, and oilseeds.
Sec. 203. Reform of payment limitation provisions of Food Security Act of
1985.
TITLE III—COMMISSION ON 21ST CENTURY PRODUCTION
AGRICULTURE
Sec. 301. Establishment.
Sec. 302. Composition.
Sec. 303. Comprehensive review of past and future of production agriculture.
Sec. 304. Reports.
Sec. 305. Powers.
Sec. 306. Commission procedures.
Sec. 307. Personnel matters.
Sec. 308. Termination of Commission.
TITLE IV—SUSPENSION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS
REGARDING PROGRAM CROPS
Sec. 401. Wheat.
Sec. 402. Feed grains.
Sec. 403. Cotton.
TITLE 
I—COMMODITY 
CREDIT
CORPORATION 
FARM 
EX-
PENDITURES
SEC. 101. TOTAL AND ANNUAL LIMITS ON COMMODITY
CREDIT CORPORATION FARM AND EXPORT
EXPENDITURES 
FOR 
1996 
THROUGH 
2002
CROP YEARS.
Section 102 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.
1443), which is obsolete, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 102. TOTAL AND ANNUAL LIMITS ON COMMODITY
CREDIT CORPORATION FARM AND EXPORT
EXPENDITURES 
FOR 
1996 
THROUGH 
2002
CROP YEARS.
‘‘(a) FARM PROGRAMS DEFINED.—For purposes of
this section, the term ‘farm programs’ means the following
programs and activities funded through the Commodity
Credit Corporation:
‘‘(1) Market transition contracts under section
102A.
‘‘(2) Marketing assistance loans for wheat, feed
grains, upland cotton, extra long staple cotton, rice,
and oilseeds under section 102B.
‘‘(3) Price support activities conducted under
this Act for milk, peanuts, sugar, and other agricul-
tural commodities.
‘‘(b) TOTAL
EXPENDITURES.—Total Commodity
Credit Corporation expenditures in support of farm pro-
grams and export programs for the 1996 through 2002
crop years may not exceed $43,200,000,000.
‘‘(c) TOTAL EXPENDITURES PER CROP YEAR.—Be-
ginning in fiscal year 1996, the Secretary shall expend,
to the maximum extent practicable, on a fiscal year basis
the following amounts in support of farm programs and
export programs:
‘‘(1) For the 1996 crop year, $7,600,000,000.
‘‘(2) For the 1997 crop year, $6,670,000,000.
‘‘(3) For the 1998 crop year, $6,520,000,000.
‘‘(4) For the 1999 crop year, $6,300,000,000.
‘‘(5) For the 2000 crop year, $6,070,000,000.
‘‘(6) For the 2001 crop year, $5,060,000,000.
‘‘(7) For the 2002 crop year, $4,960,000,000.’’.
TITLE II—ACTIVITIES IN SUP-
PORT OF FARMING UNDER
AGRICULTURAL ACT OF 1949
SEC. 201. SEVEN-YEAR CONTRACTS TO IMPROVE FARMING
CERTAINTY AND FLEXIBILITY.
(a) CONTRACTS AUTHORIZED.—The Agricultural Act
of 1949 is amended by inserting after section 102 (7
U.S.C. 1443), as amended by section 101 of this Act, the
following new section:
‘‘SEC. 
102A. 
SEVEN-YEAR 
MARKET 
TRANSITION 
CON-
TRACTS.
‘‘(a) CONTRACTS AUTHORIZED.—
‘‘(1) OFFER AND MAIN TERMS.—Beginning as
soon as possible after the date of the enactment of
this section, the Secretary shall offer to enter into
a market transition contract with willing producers
on a farm containing eligible farmland. Under the
terms of a market transition contract, the producers
shall agree, in exchange for annual payments under
the contract, to comply with the conservation compli-
ance plan for the farm prepared in accordance with
section 1212 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16
U.S.C. 3812) and wetland protection requirements
applicable to the farm under subtitle C of title XII
of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3821 et seq.).
‘‘(2) TIME FOR CONTRACTING.—
‘‘(A) DEADLINE.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), the Secretary may not enter
into a market transition contract after April 15,
1996.
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR CONSERVATION
RESERVE
LANDS.—The producers on a farm
covered by a conservation reserve contract
under section 1231 of the Food Security Act of
1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831) expiring after April 15,
1996, may enter into or expand a market tran-
sition contract, within 90 days after the expira-
tion of the conservation reserve contract, to
cover the eligible farmland that was subject to
the conservation reserve contract.
‘‘(3) DURATION OF CONTRACT.—The term of
each market transition contract shall—
‘‘(A) begin with the 1996 crop year, or the
crop year in which the contract is entered into
in the case of a contract entered into after
April 15, 1996; and
‘‘(B) extend through the 2002 crop year.
‘‘(4) ESTIMATION OF PAYMENTS.—At the time
the Secretary enters into a market transition con-
tract, the Secretary shall provide an estimate of the
minimum payments anticipated to be made under
the contract for at least the first crop year covered
by the contract. If the actual payment under the
contract for the first year is more than five percent
less than the estimated payment, the producer may
terminate the contract without penalty.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE FARMLAND DESCRIBED.—Land shall
be considered to be farmland eligible for coverage under
a market transition contract only if the land has crop acre-
age base attributable to the land and—
‘‘(1) for at least three of the 1991 through
1995 crop years, served as the basis for deficiency
payments for rice, upland cotton, feed grains, or
wheat under section 101B, 103B, 105B, or 107B or
was included in the cropland affected by the 15 per-
cent reduction in payment acres required under
these sections;
‘‘(2) was subject to a conservation reserve con-
tract under section 1231 of the Food Security Act
of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831) whose term expired on or
after January 1, 1995; or
‘‘(3) is released from coverage under a con-
servation reserve contract, either through buy out of
the contract or at the discretion of the Secretary,
during the period beginning on January 1, 1995,
and ending on April 15, 1996.
‘‘(c) TIME FOR PAYMENT.—Payments under a mar-
ket transition contract shall be made not later than Octo-
ber 15 of each year covered by the contract, except that,
in the case of payments for crop years 1997 through 2002,
half of the annual payment may be provided in advance
not later than March 15 of the same year at the option
of the producer.
‘‘(d) DETERMINATION OF TOTAL AMOUNTS AVAIL-
ABLE FOR PAYMENTS.—
‘‘(1) CONTRACT
COMMODITY
DEFINED.—For
purposes of this subsection and subsection (e), the
term ‘contract commodity’ means rice, upland cot-
ton, feed grains, or wheat.
‘‘(2) HISTORIC EXPENDITURE LEVELS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—For each contract
commodity, the Secretary shall calculate the
total expenditures that were made for the 1991
through 1995 crops of that contract commodity
under section 101B, 103B, 105B, or 107B, in-
cluding expenditures in the form of deficiency
payments, loan deficiency payments and gains
realized from repaying loans at a level less than
the original level, and marketing certificates.
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR 1996.—For pur-
poses of applying paragraph (1) for the 1996
crop year, the Secretary may use an estimate of
expenditures under section 101B, 103B, 105B,
or 107B for the 1995 crop of each contract
commodity. The Secretary shall base such esti-
mate on information contained in the Presi-
dent’s budget for fiscal year 1997 submitted to
the Congress under section 1105 of title 31,
United States Code.
‘‘(3) AMOUNTS AVAILABLE FOR 1996 THROUGH
2002 CROP YEARS.—The amount available for a crop
year for payments with respect to crop acreage base
of a contract commodity included in market transi-
tion contracts shall be equal to the product of—
‘‘(A) the ratio of the amount calculated
under paragraph (2) for that contract commod-
ity to the total amount calculated for all con-
tract commodities under such paragraph; and
‘‘(B) the portion of the amount specified in
section 102(c) that is available for expenditure
for that crop year in support of market transi-
tion contracts in effect for that crop year.
‘‘(e) DETERMINATION OF PAYMENTS UNDER PAR-
TICULAR CONTRACT.—
‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL
PRODUCTION
OF
CONTRACT
COMMODITIES.—For each market transition con-
tract, the amount of production of a contract com-
modity covered by the contract shall be equal to the
product of—
‘‘(A) the crop acreage base of that contract
commodity attributable to the eligible farmland
subject to the contract; and
‘‘(B) the farm program payment yield in
effect for the 1995 crop of that contract com-
modity for the farm containing that eligible
farmland.
‘‘(2) ANNUAL
TOTAL
PRODUCTION
OF
CON-
TRACT
COMMODITIES.—For each of the 1996
through 2002 crop years, the total production of
each contract commodity covered by all market tran-
sition contracts shall be equal to the sum of the
amounts calculated under paragraph (1) for each in-
dividual market transition contract in effect for that
crop year.
‘‘(3) ANNUAL PAYMENT RATE.—The payment
rate for a contract commodity for a crop year shall
be equal to—
‘‘(A) the amount made available under
subsection (d)(3) for that contract commodity
for that crop year; divided by
‘‘(B) the amount determined under para-
graph (2) for that crop year.
‘‘(4) ANNUAL PAYMENT AMOUNT.—For each of
the 1996 through 2002 crop years, the amount to be
paid under a particular market transition contract
for a crop year with respect to a contract commodity
shall be equal to the product of—
‘‘(A) the amount determined under para-
graph (1) for that contract for that contract
commodity; and
‘‘(B) the payment rate in effect under
paragraph (3) for that crop year for that con-
tract commodity.
‘‘(f) LIMITATION
ON
TOTAL
AMOUNT
OF
PAY-
MENT.—The total amount of payments made to a person
under a market transition contract for any year may not
exceed $50,000. The Secretary shall issue regulations de-
fining the term ‘person’ as used in this subsection, which
shall conform, to the extent practicable, to the regulations
defining the term ‘person’ issued under section 1001 of
the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308). In the
case of payments under a market transition contract pro-
vided to corporations and other persons described in para-
graph (5)(B)(i)(II) of such section, the Secretary shall
comply with the attribution requirements specified in
paragraph (5)(C) of such section.
‘‘(g) EFFECT OF VIOLATION.—
‘‘(1) TERMINATION OF CONTRACT.—If the Sec-
retary determines that a producer on a farm con-
taining eligible farmland subject to a market transi-
tion contract is in violation, or has violated, the con-
servation compliance plan for the farm containing
the eligible farmland or wetland protection require-
ments applicable to the farm, the Secretary may ter-
minate the market transition contract with respect
to that producer. Upon such termination, the pro-
ducer shall forfeit all rights to receive future pay-
ments under the contract and shall refund to the
Secretary all payments under the contract received
by the producer during the period of the violation,
together with interest thereon as determined by the
Secretary.
‘‘(2) REFUND OR ADJUSTMENT.—If the Sec-
retary determines that a violation of a market tran-
sition contract does not warrant termination of the
contract under paragraph (1), the Secretary may re-
quire the producer—
‘‘(A) to refund to the Secretary that part
of the payments received by the producer dur-
ing the period of the violation, together with in-
terest thereon as determined by the Secretary;
or
‘‘(B) to accept an adjustment in the
amount of future payments otherwise required
under the contract.
‘‘(3) FORECLOSURE.—A producer who is a
party to a market transition contract may not be re-
quired to make repayments to the Secretary of
amounts received under the contract if the eligible
farm land that is subject to the contract has been
foreclosed upon and the Secretary determines that
forgiving such repayments is appropriate in order to
provide fair and equitable treatment. This paragraph
shall not void the responsibilities of such a producer
under the contract if the producer continues or re-
sumes operations or to exercise control over the
property that is subject to the contract within the
period specified in the contract. Upon the resump-
tion of operation or control over the property by the
producer, the provisions of the contract in effect on
the date of the foreclosure shall apply.
‘‘(4) REVIEW.—A determination of the Sec-
retary under this subsection shall be considered to
be an adverse decision for purposes of the availabil-
ity of review of the determination by the National
Appeals Division under subtitle H of title II of the
Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C.
6991 et seq.).
‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF INTEREST IN LANDS SUBJECT
TO CONTRACT.—
‘‘(1) EFFECT OF TRANSFER.—Except as pro-
vided in paragraph (2), the transfer of the right and
interest of a producer in eligible farmland subject to
a market transition contract shall result in the ter-
mination of the contract with respect to that farm-
land, effective on the date of the transfer, unless the
transferee of the land agrees with the Secretary to
assume all obligations of the contract. At the request
of the transferee, the Secretary may modify the con-
tract if the modifications are consistent with the ob-
jectives of this section as determined by the Sec-
retary.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—If a producer who is entitled
to a payment under a market transition contract
dies, becomes incompetent, or is otherwise unable to
receive such payment, the Secretary shall make such
payment, in accordance with regulations prescribed
by the Secretary and without regard to any other
provision of law, in such manner as the Secretary
determines is fair and reasonable in light of all of
the circumstances.
‘‘(i) PLANTING FLEXIBILITY.—
‘‘(1) PERMITTED CROPS.—In the case of acre-
age on a farm that serves as the basis for payments
under a market transition contract, producers on the
farm may plant for harvest on the acreage—
‘‘(A) rice, upland cotton, feed grains, and
wheat;
‘‘(B) any oilseed;
‘‘(C) any industrial or experimental crop
designated by the Secretary;
‘‘(D) any other crop, except any fruit or
vegetable crop (including potatoes and dry edi-
ble beans) unless such fruit or vegetable crop is
designated by the Secretary as—
‘‘(i) an industrial or experimental
crop; or
‘‘(ii) a crop for which no substantial
domestic production or market exists; and
‘‘(E) mung beans.
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—With regard to commod-
ities that may be planted pursuant to this sub-
section, the Secretary shall make a determination in
each crop year of the commodities that may not be
planted pursuant to this subsection and shall make
available a list of the commodities.
‘‘(3) CONSERVATION USES.—In lieu of planting
any crop specified in paragraph (1), the producers
on a farm may devote to conservation uses all or