I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3550
To provide a safety net for farmers and consumers, to promote the develop-
ment of farmer-owned value added processing facilities, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 25, 1998
Mr. GEPHARDT (for himself, Mr. BOSWELL, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. CLYBURN,
Mr. EVANS, Mr. MINGE, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. POMEROY,
Mr. POSHARD, and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To provide a safety net for farmers and consumers, to pro-
mote the development of farmer-owned value added proc-
essing facilities, 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
‘‘Family Farm Safety Net Act of 1998’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Loan rates for marketing assistance loans for certain crops.
Sec. 3. Authority to extend term of marketing assistance loans.
Sec. 4. Priority for farmer-owned value-added processing facilities.
Sec. 5. Extension programs for small- and medium-sized farm operations.
SEC. 2. LOAN RATES FOR MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS
FOR CERTAIN CROPS.
(a) WHEAT.—Subsection (a) of section 132 of the
Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7232) is
amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(1) LOAN RATE.—Subject to paragraph (2),
the loan rate for a marketing assistance loan under
section 131 for wheat shall be equal to not less than
85 percent of the simple average price received by
producers of wheat, as determined by the Secretary,
during the marketing years for the immediately pre-
ceding 5 crops of wheat, excluding the year in which
the average price was the highest and the year in
which the average price was the lowest in the pe-
riod.’’.
(b) FEED GRAINS.—Subsection (b) of such section
is amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the
following new paragraph:
‘‘(1) LOAN RATE FOR CORN.—Subject to para-
graph (2), the loan rate for a marketing assistance
loan under section 131 for corn shall be equal to not
less than 85 percent of the simple average price re-
ceived by producers of corn, as determined by the
Secretary, during the marketing years for the imme-
diately preceding 5 crops of corn, excluding the year
in which the average price was the highest and the
year in which the average price was the lowest in the
period.’’.
(c) UPLAND COTTON.—Subsection (c)(2) of such sec-
tion is amended by striking ‘‘or more than $0.5192 per
pound’’.
(d) EXTRA LONG STAPLE COTTON.—Subsection (d)
of such section is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(d) EXTRA LONG STAPLE COTTON.—The loan rate
for a marketing assistance loan under section 131 for
extra long staple cotton shall be equal to not less than
85 percent of the simple average price received by produc-
ers of extra long staple cotton, as determined by the Sec-
retary, during 3 years of the 5-year period ending July
31 of the year preceding the year in which the crop is
planted, excluding the year in which the average price was
the highest and the year in which the average price was
the lowest in the period.’’.
(e) OILSEEDS.—Subsection (f) of such section is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘or more
than $5.26’’; and
(2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘or more
than $0.093’’.
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO EXTEND TERM OF MARKETING AS-
SISTANCE LOANS.
Section 133 of the Agricultural Market Transition
Act (7 U.S.C. 7233) is amended by striking subsection
(c) and inserting the following:
‘‘(c) EXTENSIONS.—The Secretary may extend the
term of a marketing assistance loan for any loan commod-
ity for a period not to exceed 6 months.’’.
SEC. 4. PRIORITY FOR FARMER-OWNED VALUE-ADDED
PROCESSING FACILITIES.
Section 310B of the Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(h) PRIORITY FOR FARMER-OWNED VALUE-ADDED
PROCESSING FACILITIES.—In approving applications for
loans and grants authorized under this section, section
306(a)(11), and other applicable provisions of this title (as
determined by the Secretary), the Secretary shall give a
high priority to applications for projects that encourage
farmer-owned value-added processing facilities.’’.
SEC. 5. EXTENSION PROGRAMS FOR SMALL- AND MEDIUM-
SIZED FARM OPERATIONS.
Section 502(d) of the Rural Development Act of 1972
(7 U.S.C. 2662(d)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Small farm ex-
tension’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(2) To ensure the continued viability of small- and
medium-sized farm operations, extension programs should
emphasize market development education and technical
assistance for operators of small- and medium-sized farms
in addition to production assistance. Such extension ef-
forts should be directed at exploring new marketing ave-
nues for such farms, such as direct farm-to-consumer
markets, local value-added processing, and farmer-owned
cooperatives, and at developing entrepreneurial training
and development in natural resource-based industries.’’.
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