Cover Crop Flexibility Act of 2021
Bill: S.1458 | Sponsor: Sen. Thune, John (R-SD)
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Cover Crop Flexibility Act of 2021
This bill modifies the federal crop insurance program to address the planting of cover crops following prevented planting.
Specifically, the bill allows a producer that is prevented from planting its first crop to plant a second crop and receive an indemnity equal to the full guarantee for the first crop if the second crop (1) is an approved cover crop, and (2) cannot be harvested for grain or other uses unrelated to livestock forage or conservation. Under current law, if a producer plants a second crop it can only get an indemnity worth at most 35% of the prevented planting guarantee for the first crop.
For a producer planting a cover crop following prevented planting, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) may provide separate prevented planting coverage factors that include preplanting costs and the cost of cover crop seed.
Further, the FCIC must conduct research and development regarding a policy to insure crops on fields that regularly utilize cover crops, including research to examine the extent that cover crops reduce risks of prevented planting and other crop insurance losses.

To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to encourage the planting of 
   cover crops following prevented planting, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cover Crop Flexibility Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. COVER CROPS PLANTED DUE TO PREVENTED PLANTING.

    (a) In General.--Section 508A of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 
U.S.C. 1508a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii)--
                            (i) by striking ``collect an indemnity'' 
                        and inserting the following: ``collect--
                                    ``(I) an indemnity'';
                            (ii) in subclause (I) (as so designated), 
                        by striking the period at the end and inserting 
                        ``; or''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                                    ``(II) an indemnity payment that is 
                                equal to the prevented planting 
                                guarantee for the acreage for the first 
                                crop, if the second crop--
                                            ``(aa) is an approved cover 
                                        crop that--

                                                    ``(AA) will be 
                                                planted for use as 
                                                animal feed or bedding 
                                                that is hayed, grazed 
                                                (rotationally, 
                                                adaptively, or at equal 
                                                to or less than the 
                                                carrying capacity), or 
                                                chopped outside of the 
                                                primary nesting season; 
                                                or

                                                    ``(BB) will not be 
                                                harvested, such as a 
                                                crop with an intended 
                                                use of being left 
                                                standing or cover; and

                                            ``(bb) cannot be harvested 
                                        for grain or other uses 
                                        unrelated to livestock forage 
                                        or conservation, as determined 
                                        by the Corporation.''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) by inserting ``a second crop described 
                        in item (aa) or (bb) of paragraph 
                        (1)(B)(ii)(II), or'' before ``double 
                        cropping''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``make an election under 
                        paragraph (1)(B)'' and inserting ``makes an 
                        election under paragraph (1)(B)(ii)(I)''; and
            (2) by inserting at the end the following:
    ``(f) Prevented Planting Coverage Factors.--For producers that 
plant cover crops following prevented planting, the Corporation may 
provide separate prevented planting coverage factors that include 
preplanting costs and the cost of cover crop seed.''.
    (b) Research and Development.--Section 522(c) of the Federal Crop 
Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(20) Cover crops.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Corporation shall carry out 
                research and development, or offer to enter into 1 or 
                more contracts with 1 or more qualified persons to 
                carry out research and development, regarding a policy 
                to insure crops on fields that regularly utilize cover 
                crops.
                    ``(B) Requirements.--Research and development under 
                subparagraph (A) shall include--
                            ``(i) a review of prevented planting 
                        coverage factors described in section 508A(f) 
                        and an evaluation of whether to include cover 
                        crop seed costs and costs related to grazing in 
                        the calculation of a factor;
                            ``(ii) the extent to which cover crops 
                        reduce the risk of subsequent prevented 
                        planting;
                            ``(iii) the extent to which cover crops 
                        make crops more resilient to or otherwise 
                        reduce the risk of loss resulting from natural 
                        disasters such as drought;
                            ``(iv) the extent to which increased 
                        regularity of using cover crops or interactions 
                        with other practices such as tillage or 
                        rotation affects risk reduction;
                            ``(v) whether rotational, adaptive, or 
                        other prescribed grazing of cover crops can 
                        maintain or improve risk reduction; and
                            ``(vi) how best to account for any reduced 
                        risk and provide a benefit to producers using 
                        cover crops through a separate plan or policy 
                        of insurance.
                    ``(C) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the 
                date of enactment of this paragraph, the Corporation 
                shall make available on the website of the Corporation, 
                and submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House 
                of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, 
                Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, a report that--
                            ``(i) describes the results of the research 
                        and development carried out under subparagraph 
                        (A); and
                            ``(ii) includes any recommendations with 
                        respect to those results.''.
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