I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9240 
To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to require the 
Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to provide recovery 
payments to producers of seasonal and perishable crops that experience 
low prices caused by imports, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 2, 2024 
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 
to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a 
pilot program to provide recovery payments to producers 
of seasonal and perishable crops that experience low 
prices caused by imports, 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 ‘‘Protecting Our 
Produce Act’’. 
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‘‘(A) marketed in raw form for consump-
tion without further processing; and 
‘‘(B) as determined by the Secretary, nor-
mally marketed not later than 4 weeks after 
harvesting. 
‘‘(4) SEASONAL
MARKETING
WINDOW.—The 
term ‘seasonal marketing window’ means the time-
frame during a marketing year, as determined by 
the Secretary— 
‘‘(A) during which a crop is normally mar-
keted within a specific geographical region of 
the United States; and 
‘‘(B) that concludes on the date that is not 
later than 4 weeks after the last day on which 
the crop is normally harvested. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with marketing 
year 2025, the Secretary shall establish a pilot pro-
gram under which the Secretary shall provide annual 
crop loss payments to producers of seasonal and per-
ishable crops located in any geographical region de-
scribed in paragraph (2) in accordance with this sec-
tion, if the Secretary determines that, during the ap-
plicable marketing year— 
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‘‘(A) the effective price of the seasonal and 
perishable crop is less than the reference price 
of that seasonal and perishable crop; and 
‘‘(B) the crop loss described in subpara-
graph (A) is caused by imports of the applicable 
seasonal and perishable crop. 
‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION
OF
GEOGRAPHICAL
RE-
GIONS.—A geographical region referred to in para-
graph (1) is a geographical region of the United 
States in which a seasonal and perishable crop is 
grown within a seasonal marketing window during 
which a harvest and shipment of the seasonal and 
perishable crop occurs, as determined by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 
payment under the pilot program under this section, 
a producer of 1 or more seasonal and perishable 
crops shall submit to the Secretary an application at 
such time, in such manner, and containing such in-
formation as the Secretary may require, including 
the information described in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—No producer may be eli-
gible to receive a payment under the pilot program 
under this section unless the producer— 
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‘‘(A) has an average adjusted gross income 
of less than $5,000,000 for the 3 tax years pre-
ceding the most recent tax year; and 
‘‘(B) derives at least 75 percent of the ad-
justed gross income of the producer from farm-
ing, ranching, or forestry, as determined by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(d) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The amount of a payment 
provided under the pilot program under this section shall 
be equal to the product obtained by multiplying— 
‘‘(1) the payment rate for the marketing year 
for which the payment is provided with respect to 
the applicable seasonal and perishable crop under 
subsection (e); and 
‘‘(2) the average production during the 5 most 
recent marketing years of the seasonal and perish-
able crop by the producer during the seasonal mar-
keting window, excluding— 
‘‘(A) the marketing year during that pe-
riod with the highest production; and 
‘‘(B) the marketing year during that pe-
riod with the lowest production. 
‘‘(e) PAYMENT RATE.—The rate of a payment pro-
vided under the pilot program under this section shall be 
equal to the difference between— 
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‘‘(1) the reference price of the applicable sea-
sonal and perishable crop; and 
‘‘(2) the effective price of that seasonal and 
perishable crop. 
‘‘(f) SUNSET.—The pilot program under this section 
shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date 
of enactment of the Protecting Our Produce Act. 
‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to carry out the pilot program under this 
section $200,000,000 for each fiscal year that begins after 
the date of the enactment of the Protecting Our Produce 
Act and before the date described in subsection (f).’’. 
Æ 
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