Title: Farm Support Integrity for Family Farms Act
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Farm Support Integrity for Family Farms Act
The bill modifies Department of Agriculture commodity programs with respect to: (1) payment limitations, and (2) the requirement to be actively engaged in farming in order to receive payments.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5978 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5978

 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide for certain payment 
limitations with respect to commodity programs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2018

 Mr. Meadows introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide for certain payment 
limitations with respect to commodity programs, 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 ``Farm Support Integrity for Family 
Farms Act''.

SEC. 2. PAYMENT LIMITATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 
U.S.C. 1308) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (3) and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(3) Legal entity.--The term `legal entity' means--
                    ``(A) an organization that (subject to the 
                requirements of this section and section 1001A) is 
                eligible to receive a payment under a provision of law 
                referred to in subsection (b) or (d); and
                    ``(B) an association, charitable organization, 
                corporation, estate, general partnership, irrevocable 
                trust or grantor of a revocable trust, joint stock 
                company, limited partnership, limited liability 
                company, limited liability partnership, or other 
                similar entity (as determined by the Secretary).'';
            (2) by striking subsections (b) and (c) and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(b) Limitation on Payments for Covered Commodities and Peanuts.--
The total amount of payments received, directly or indirectly, by a 
person or legal entity for any crop year for 1 or more covered 
commodities and peanuts under title I of the Agricultural Act of 2014 
may not exceed $125,000, of which not more than $50,000 may consist of 
payments made under sections 1116 and 1117 of such Act.
    ``(c) Spousal Equity.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (b), except 
        as provided in paragraph (2), if a person and the spouse of the 
        person are covered by paragraph (2) and receive, directly or 
        indirectly, any payment or gain covered by this section, the 
        total amount of payments or gains (as applicable) covered by 
        this section that the person and spouse may jointly receive 
        during any crop year may not exceed an amount equal to twice 
        the applicable dollar amounts specified in subsection (b).
            ``(2) Exceptions.--
                    ``(A) Separate farming operations.--In the case of 
                a married couple in which each spouse, before the 
                marriage, was separately engaged in an unrelated 
                farming operation, each spouse shall be treated as a 
                separate person with respect to a farming operation 
                brought into the marriage by a spouse, subject to the 
                condition that the farming operation shall remain a 
                separate farming operation, as determined by the 
                Secretary.
                    ``(B) Election to receive separate payments.--A 
                married couple may elect to receive payments separately 
                in the name of each spouse if the total amount of 
                payments and benefits described in subsection (b) that 
                the married couple receives, directly or indirectly, 
                does not exceed an amount equal to twice the applicable 
                dollar amounts specified in such subsection.'';
            (3) in subsection (e)(3)--
                    (A) by striking ``(A) In general.--''; and
                    (B) by striking subparagraph (B);
            (4) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(B), by adding at the end the 
                following new clause:
                            ``(iii) Legitimate entities.--In 
                        promulgating regulations to define the term 
                        `legal entity' as the term applies to 
                        irrevocable trusts, the Secretary shall ensure 
                        that irrevocable trusts are legitimate entities 
                        that have not been created for the purpose of 
                        avoiding a payment limitation.''; and
                    (B) by striking paragraph (4) and redesignating 
                paragraphs (5), (6), (7), and (8) as paragraphs (4), 
                (5), (6), and (7), respectively; and
            (5) in subsection (h), in the second sentence, by striking 
        ``or other entity'' and inserting ``or legal entity''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 
        1308) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``subsections 
                (b) and (c)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)'';
                    (B) in subsection (f)(2), by striking ``Subsections 
                (b) and (c)'' and inserting ``Subsection (b)''; and
                    (C) in subsection (g)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 
                        ``subsection (b) or (c)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (b)''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 
                        ``subsections (b) and (c)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (b)''.
            (2) Section 1001A of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 
        U.S.C. 1308-1) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``subsections 
                (b) and (c) of section 1001'' and inserting ``section 
                1001(b)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``subsection 
                (b) or (c) of section 1001'' and inserting ``section 
                1001(b)''.
            (3) Section 1001B(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 
        U.S.C. 1308-2(a)) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1) by striking ``subsections (b) and (c) of section 1001'' and 
        inserting ``section 1001(b)''.
    (c) Application.--The amendments made by this section shall apply 
beginning with the 2019 crop year.

SEC. 3. PAYMENTS LIMITED TO ACTIVE FARMERS.

    Section 1001A of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308-1) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``(including a 
                person participating in a farming operation as a 
                partner in a general partnership, a participant in a 
                joint venture, a grantor of a revocable trust, or a 
                participant in a similar entity, as determined by the 
                Secretary)'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)(i)(II), by striking ``or 
                active personal management'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) in clause (ii), by striking ``or active 
                        personal management''; and
                            (ii) in clause (iii), by inserting ``and'' 
                        after the semicolon; and
                    (D) by striking subparagraph (C) and redesignating 
                subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (C); and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 
                        inserting the following:
                    ``(A) the landowner share-rents the land at a rate 
                that is usual and customary or receives rent or income 
                based on the operating results of the operation;'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) the share of the payments received by the 
                landowner is commensurate with the share of the crop or 
                income received as rent.'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``active 
                personal management or'';
                    (C) in paragraph (5)--
                            (i) by striking ``(5)'' and all that 
                        follows through ``(A) In general.--A person'' 
                        and inserting the following:
            ``(5) Custom farming services.--A person'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``under usual and 
                        customary terms'' after ``services''; and
                            (iii) by striking subparagraph (B); and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) Farm managers.--A person who otherwise meets the 
        requirements of this subsection other than (b)(2)(A)(i)(II) 
        shall be considered to be actively engaged in farming, as 
        determined by the Secretary, with respect to the farming 
        operation, including a farming operation that is a sole 
        proprietorship, a legal entity such as a joint venture or 
        general partnership, or a legal entity such as a corporation or 
        limited partnership, if the person--
                    ``(A) makes a significant contribution of 
                management to the farming operation that--
                            ``(i) is critical to the profitability of 
                        the farming operation;
                            ``(ii) is performed on a regular, 
                        continuous, and substantial basis; and
                            ``(iii) equals at least 520 hours annually, 
                        or at least 25 percent of the total management 
                        hours required for the farming operation on an 
                        annual basis, as determined by the Secretary;
                    ``(B)(i) is the only person in the farming 
                operation qualifying as actively engaged in farming by 
                using the farm manager special class designation under 
                this paragraph; and
                    ``(ii) together with any other persons in the 
                farming operation qualifying as actively engaged in 
                farming under subsection (b)(2) or as part of a special 
                class under this subsection, does not collectively 
                receive, directly or indirectly, an amount equal to 
                more than the applicable limits under section 1001(b);
                    ``(C) does not use the management contribution 
                under this paragraph to qualify as actively engaged in 
                more than 1 farming operation; and
                    ``(D) manages a farm operation that does not 
                substantially share equipment, labor, or management 
                with persons or legal entities that with the person 
                collectively receive, directly or indirectly, an amount 
                equal to more than the applicable limits under section 
                1001(b).''.

SEC. 4. REPEAL OF CERTAIN REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1604 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 
U.S.C. 1308-1 note) is repealed.
    (b) Regulations.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall issue or 
revise such regulations as may be necessary to implement the amendments 
made by sections 2 and 3.
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