7 U.S.C. § 7911
For the purpose of making direct payments and counter-cyclical payments with respect to a farm, the Secretary shall give an owner of the farm an opportunity to elect 1 of the following as the method by which the base acres of all covered commodities on the farm are to be determined:
For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), the eligible acreage for each oilseed on a farm during each of the 1998 through 2001 crop years shall be determined in the manner provided in paragraph (1)(A), except that the total acreage for all oilseeds on the farm for a crop year may not exceed the difference between-
If the subtraction performed under subparagraph (A) results in a negative number, the eligible oilseed acreage on the farm for that crop year shall be zero for purposes of determining the 4-year average.
The owner of a farm may increase the eligible acreage for an oilseed on the farm by reducing the contract acreage determined under paragraph (1)(B)(i) for 1 or more covered commodities on an acre-for-acre basis, except that the total base acreage for each oilseed on the farm may not exceed the 4-year average of each oilseed determined under paragraph (1)(B)(ii).
For the purpose of determining a 4-year acreage average under this subsection for a farm, the Secretary shall not exclude any crop year in which a covered commodity was not planted.
For the purpose of determining under paragraph (1)(A) the acreage on a farm that producers planted or were prevented from planting during the 1998 through 2001 crop years to covered commodities, if the acreage that was planted or prevented from being planted was devoted to another covered commodity in the same crop year (other than a covered commodity produced under an established practice of double cropping), the owner may elect the commodity to be used for that crop year in determining the 4-year average, but may not include both the initial commodity and the subsequent commodity.
As soon as practicable after May 13, 2002, the Secretary shall provide notice to owners of farms regarding their opportunity to make the election described in subsection (a). The notice shall include the following:
Within the time period and in the manner prescribed pursuant to paragraph (1), the owner of a farm shall submit to the Secretary notice of the election made by the owner under subsection (a).
If the owner of a farm fails to make the election under subsection (a) or fails to timely notify the Secretary of the election made, as required by subsection (b), the owner shall be deemed to have made the election described in subsection (a)(1)(B) to determine base acres for all covered commodities on the farm.
The election made under subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (a)(1), or deemed to be made under subsection (c), with respect to a farm shall apply to all of the covered commodities on the farm.
The Secretary shall provide for an adjustment, as appropriate, in the base acres for covered commodities for a farm whenever either of the following circumstances occurs:
For the crop year in which a base acres adjustment under paragraph (1) is first made, the owner of the farm shall elect to receive either direct payments and counter-cyclical payments with respect to the acreage added to the farm under this subsection or a prorated payment under the conservation reserve contract, but not both.
The payment acres for a covered commodity on a farm shall be equal to 85 percent of the base acres for the covered commodity.
If the sum of the base acres for a farm, together with the acreage described in paragraph (2), exceeds the actual cropland acreage of the farm, the Secretary shall reduce the base acres for 1 or more covered commodities for the farm or the base acres for peanuts for the farm under subchapter III so that the sum of the base acres and acreage described in paragraph (2) does not exceed the actual cropland acreage of the farm.
For purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall include the following:
The Secretary shall give the owner of the farm the opportunity to select the base acres or the base acres for peanuts for the farm under subchapter III against which the reduction required by paragraph (1) will be made.
In applying paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make an exception in the case of double cropping, as determined by the Secretary.
The Secretary shall take into account section 7952(f) of this title when applying the requirements of this subsection.
The owner of a farm may reduce, at any time, the base acres for any covered commodity for the farm. The reduction shall be permanent and made in the manner prescribed by the Secretary.
7 U.S.C. § 7911
EDITORIAL NOTES
REFERENCES IN TEXTSubchapter III, referred to in subsec. (g)(1), (2)(A), (3), was in the original "subtitle C", meaning subtitle C (§§1301-1310) of title I of Pub. L. 107-171, 116 Stat. 166, which is classified principally to subchapter III of this chapter. For complete classification of subtitle C to the Code, see References in Text note set out under section 7951 of this title and Tables. The Food Security Act of 1985, referred to in subsec. (g)(2)(B), is Pub. L. 99-198, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1354. Chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XII of the Act is classified generally to part I (§3830 et seq.) of subchapter IV of chapter 58 of Title 16, Conservation. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1985 Amendment note set out under section 1281 of this title and Tables.
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
POPCORN ACREAGE Pub. L. 108-7, div. A, title VII, §767, Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 48, formerly set out as a note under this section, was transferred and is set out as a note under section 9011 of this title.
- Secretary
- The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture.
- covered commodity
- The term "covered commodity" means wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, rice, soybeans, and other oilseeds.
- payment acres
- The term "payment acres" means 85 percent of the base acres of a covered commodity on a farm, as established under section 7911 of this title, on which direct payments and counter-cyclical payments are made.