I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2704
To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to restore and improve the farmer
owned reserve program, to extend the term of marketing assistance
loans made under the Agricultural Market Transition Act, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 4, 1999
Mr. MINGE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to restore and im-
prove the farmer owned reserve program, to extend the
term of marketing assistance loans made under the Agri-
cultural Market Transition Act, 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
‘‘Farmer Owned Reserve Restoration Act of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—FARMER OWNER RESERVE PROGRAM
Sec. 101. Restoration of farmer owner reserve program.
Sec. 102. Covered commodities.
Sec. 103. Interest charges.
Sec. 104. Storage payments.
Sec. 105. Quantity of commodities in program.
Sec. 106. Announcement of program.
Sec. 107. Withdrawal of commodities.
TITLE II—OTHER PROVISIONS
Sec. 201. Term of marketing assistance loans.
Sec. 202. Farm storage facility loans.
TITLE I—FARMER OWNER
RESERVE PROGRAM
SEC. 101. RESTORATION OF FARMER OWNER RESERVE
PROGRAM.
(a) REPEAL
OF CURRENT SUSPENSION
OF PRO-
GRAM.—Section 171(b)(1) of the Agricultural Market
Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7301(b)(1)) is amended—
(1) by striking subparagraph (E); and
(2) 
by 
redesignating 
subparagraphs 
(F)
through (L) as subparagraphs (E) through (K),
respectively.
(b) RESUMPTION OF PROGRAM.—Subsection (p) of
section 110 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.
1445e) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(p) RESUMPTION OF PROGRAM.—This section shall
take effect on the date of the enactment of the Farmer
Owned Reserve Restoration Act of 1999.’’.
(c) RELATION TO CURRENT COMMODITY LOAN PRO-
GRAM.—Section 110(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949
(7 U.S.C. 1445e(b)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘9-month
price support’’; and
(2) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking ‘‘this
title’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘subtitle
C of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7
U.S.C. 7231 et seq.)’’.
SEC. 102. COVERED COMMODITIES.
(a) INCLUSION OF OILSEEDS.—Subsection (a) of sec-
tion 110 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e)
is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘wheat and feed grains’’ both
places it appears and inserting ‘‘covered commod-
ities’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sen-
tence: ‘‘In this section, the term ‘covered commodity’
means wheat, a feed grain, or an oilseed (as defined
in section 102 of the Agricultural Market Transition
Act (7 U.S.C. 7202).’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is
further amended—
(1) in subsection (b)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘wheat
and feed grains’’ and inserting ‘‘covered com-
modities’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘under
the wheat and feed grain programs’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘for the covered commodity’’;
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘wheat or feed
grains’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘the
covered commodity’’;
(3) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘wheat or
feed grains’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered commodity’’;
(4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘wheat and
feed grains’’ and inserting ‘‘covered commodities’’;
and
(5) in subsection (g)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘wheat
and feed grains’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered com-
modity’’;
(B) in paragraph (2)—
(i) by striking ‘‘wheat or feed grains’’
in the matter before the subparagraphs
and inserting ‘‘a covered commodity’’; and
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking
‘‘wheat or corn’’ both places it appears and
inserting ‘‘wheat, corn, or oilseeds’’;
(C) in paragraph (3)—
(i) by striking ‘‘wheat or feed grains’’
the first place it appears and inserting ‘‘a
covered commodity’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘wheat or feed grains,
respectively’’ and inserting ‘‘that covered
commodity’’; and
(D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘wheat
or feed grains’’ and inserting ‘‘covered commod-
ities’’.
SEC. 103. INTEREST CHARGES.
Section 110(c) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7
U.S.C. 1445e(c)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘105 percent
of the then current established price for the com-
modity’’ and inserting ‘‘150 percent of the loan rate
for the commodity under this section’’; and
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘105 percent
of the established price for the commodities’’ and in-
serting ‘‘150 percent of the loan rate for the com-
modity under this section’’.
SEC. 104. STORAGE PAYMENTS.
Section 110(d) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7
U.S.C. 1445e(d)) is amended by striking paragraphs (2)
and (3) and inserting the following:
‘‘(2) TIMING.—The Secretary shall make stor-
age payments available to participants in this
program—
‘‘(A) at the end of each quarter; or
‘‘(B) at the option of the Secretary, not
more than 1 year in advance of the date the
payments would otherwise be payable under
subparagraph (A).
‘‘(3) DURATION.—The Secretary shall cease
making storage payments for a covered commodity
whenever the price of the commodity is equal to or
exceeds 140 percent of loan rate for the commodity
under this section, and for any 90-day period imme-
diately following the last day on which the price of
the commodity was equal to or in excess of 140 per-
cent of the loan rate for the commodity under this
section.’’.
SEC. 105. QUANTITY OF COMMODITIES IN PROGRAM.
Section 110(f) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7
U.S.C. 1445e(f)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘less than 300
million bushels, nor more than 450 million bushels’’
and inserting ‘‘more than 500,000,000 bushels’’;
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘less than 600
million bushels, nor more than 900 million bushels’’
and inserting ‘‘more than 1,000,000,000 bushels’’;
and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(3) The maximum quantities of all oilseeds
may not be established at more than 500,000,000
bushels.’’.
SEC. 106. ANNOUNCEMENT OF PROGRAM.
Section 110(g) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7
U.S.C. 1445e(g)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (A);
(B) by striking the period at the end of
subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(C) by inserting at the end the following
new subparagraph:
‘‘(C) in the case of oilseeds, such date as
the Secretary considers to be appropriate.’’; and
(2) in paragraph (2)—
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or
established pursuant to’’ after ‘‘specified in’’;
and
(B) in subparagraph (B)—
(i) in the matter before the clauses, by
inserting ‘‘or established pursuant to’’
after ‘‘specified in’’;
(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of
clause (i);
(iii) by striking the period at the end
of clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(iv) by inserting at the end the fol-
lowing new clause:
‘‘(iii) in the case of oilseeds, more
than 17.5 percent.’’;
SEC. 107. WITHDRAWAL OF COMMODITIES.
Subsection (h) of section 110 of the Agricultural Act
of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(h) WITHDRAWAL OF COVERED COMMODITIES.—In
the case of a producer that has a covered commodity
stored under this section, if the price of the covered com-
modity is—
‘‘(1) less than 140 percent of the loan rate for
that covered commodity under this section, the pro-
ducer may—
‘‘(A) withdraw the commodity from storage
and repay any loan made for the commodity
under this section; or
‘‘(B) continue to store the commodity
under this section and receive storage payments
for the commodity under subsection (d);
‘‘(2) at least 140 percent, but less than 150
percent, of the loan rate for that covered commodity
under this section, the producer may continue to
store the commodity under this section, but shall not
be eligible for storage payments for the commodity
under subsection (d); or
‘‘(3) 150 percent or more of the loan rate for
that covered commodity under this section, the pro-
ducer shall withdraw the commodity from storage
under this section and repay any loan made for the
commodity under this section.’’.
TITLE II—OTHER PROVISIONS
SEC. 201. TERM OF MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS.
Section 133(a) of the Agricultural Market Transition
Act (7 U.S.C. 7233(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘9
months’’ and inserting ‘‘21 months’’.
SEC. 202. FARM STORAGE FACILITY LOANS.
(a) LOANS FOR CONSTRUCTION OR REMODELING.—
To encourage the storage of dry or high moisture grain,
soybeans, and rice, and high moisture forage and silage
on farms, where the commodities can be stored at the low-
est cost, the Commodity Credit Corporation shall make se-
cured storage facility loans not to exceed $50,000 to grow-
ers of such commodities to cover not less than 75 percent
of the total construction cost of such a facility, including
the cost of structural and equipment foundations, elec-
trical systems, grain handling systems, drying equipment,
and site preparation. The Corporation may also make
loans in such amounts not to exceed $50,000 to cover re-
modeling costs of existing storage facilities, as are set
forth in regulations issued by the Secretary of Agriculture.
(b) FACILITY SIZE.—The size of such a facility for
which a loan is obtained shall be based upon the amount
of space required to store the quantity of the commodity
estimated to be produced by the borrower during a two-
year period.
(c) LOAN PERIOD.—Loans under this section shall
be for a period not to exceed 10 years at an interest rate
based upon the rate of interest charged the Corporation
by the United States Treasury.
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