[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2339 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2339

  To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to permit producers to adopt 
   integrated, site-specific farm management plans that provide for 
  resource-conserving crop rotation, special conservation practices, 
  rotational grazing, and biomass production operations and practices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 1995

  Mr. Minge (for himself, Mr. Barrett of Nebraska, and Mr. Johnson of 
South Dakota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to permit producers to adopt 
   integrated, site-specific farm management plans that provide for 
  resource-conserving crop rotation, special conservation practices, 
  rotational grazing, and biomass production operations and practices.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONSERVATION FLEX PROGRAM OPTION.

    (a) Establishment of Program.--The Agricultural Act of 1949 is 
amended by inserting after section 115 (7 U.S.C. 1445k) the following 
new section:
``SEC. 116. CONSERVATION FLEX PROGRAM OPTION.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a voluntary 
conservation flex program option to assist producers of agricultural 
commodities in adopting integrated, site-specific farm management plans 
through the reduction of farm program barriers to resource stewardship 
practices and systems.
    ``(b) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
            ``(1) The term `program' means the conservation flex 
        program option established under this section.
            ``(2) The term `plan' means a site-specific farm management 
        plan prepared by the producer and approved by the Secretary.
            ``(3) The term `alternative crops' means experimental and 
        industrial crops which conserve soil and water.
            ``(4) The term `breeding cattle' means bulls, dams, and 
        heifers held solely for the production of calves, but shall not 
        include weaned calves being grown for slaughter or dairy 
        cattle.
            ``(5) The term `legume' means any legume, including 
        alfalfa, clover, lentils, lupine, medic, peas, soybeans, and 
        vetch grown for use as a forage, green manure, or biomass 
        feedstock, but not including any pulse crop from which the 
        seeds are harvested and sold for purposes other than use as 
        seed for planting.
            ``(6) The term `resource-conserving crop' means legumes, 
        grasses, brassica cover crops and forages, alternative crops, 
        any interseeded or relay-planted combination of such crops, any 
        interseeded or relay-planted combination of such crops and 
        small grains, and such other crops as the Secretary may 
        designate.
            ``(7) The term `resource-conserving crop rotation' means a 
        crop rotation which includes at least one resource-conserving 
        crop and that reduces erosion, maintains or improves soil 
        fertility, tilth and structure, interrupts pest cycles, or 
        conserves water.
            ``(8) The term `rotational grazing' means planting forage, 
        dividing pastures into paddocks, and using grazing rotations to 
        increase forage quality and production, improve vegetative 
        cover, and reduce sediment and nutrient runoff.
            ``(9) The term `small grains' means any small grain, 
        including barley, buckwheat, oats, rye, spelt, and triticale, 
        but not including wheat, except for wheat grown for nonhuman 
        consumption.
            ``(10) The term `special conservation practices' means 
        field borders, contour grass strips, grass waterways, filter 
        strips, grass windbreaks, buffer areas, wildlife habitat 
        plantings, habitat plantings for beneficial organisms that aid 
        in the control of pests, and such other practices as the 
        Secretary may designate.
    ``(c) Eligible Producers.--To be eligible to participate in the 
program, a producer must prepare and submit to the Secretary for 
approval a site-specific farm management plan, which may at the 
producer's option be integrated with any conservation plan developed 
pursuant to section 1212 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 
3812) and any other conservation or natural resource plan required for 
producer participation in any program within the jurisdiction of the 
Secretary.
    ``(d) Agreements.--Upon the approval of a plan submitted by a 
producer under subsection (c), the Secretary shall enter into an 
agreement with the producer that specifies the crop acreage bases being 
enrolled in the program. The agreement shall be for a period of not 
less than one year, nor more than seven years, as determined by the 
producer. The agreement may be renewed upon the mutual agreement of the 
Secretary and the producer.
    ``(e) Producer Responsibilities Under Agreement.--Under the terms 
of an agreement entered into under subsection (d), a producer shall 
agree--
            ``(1) to actively comply with the terms and conditions of 
        the applicable plan, as approved by the Secretary;
            ``(2) to devote to a resource-conserving crop--
                    ``(A) not less than 15 percent of the crop acreage 
                bases of the producer enrolled under such program; or
                    ``(B) not less than 15 percent of the producer's 
                total crop acres, if the sum of resource-conserving 
                crop acres on non-base acres and total crop acreage 
                bases on the farm does not exceed the county average 
                base-to-cropland ratio; and
            ``(3) to keep such records as the Secretary may reasonably 
        require for purposes of program evaluation.
    ``(f) Requirements of the Plan.--To be approved by the Secretary, a 
plan submitted by a producer must--
            ``(1) specify the crop acreage bases the producer chooses 
        to enroll in the program;
            ``(2) describe the resource-conserving crop rotation, 
        special conservation practices, rotational grazing, or biomass 
        production operations and practices to be implemented and 
        maintained on such acreage during the agreement period which 
        fulfill the purposes of the program;
            ``(3) contain a schedule for the implementation, 
        improvement and maintenance of the resource-conserving crop 
        rotation, special conservation practices, rotational grazing, 
        or biomass operations and practices described in the plan; and
            ``(4) contain such other terms as the Secretary may 
        require.
    ``(g) Program Administration, Certification, and Termination.--
            ``(1) Program administration, technical assistance, and 
        flexibility.--
                    ``(A) Administration.--The program shall be 
                administered by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Technical assistance.--In administering the 
                program, the Secretary, in consultation with the local 
                conservation districts and any State or local 
                authorities deemed appropriate by the Secretary, shall 
                provide technical assistance to a producer in 
                developing and implementing a plan, evaluating the 
                effectiveness of a plan, and assessing the costs and 
                benefits of farming operations and practices. If 
                requested by a producer, the Secretary shall provide 
                technical assistance to help the producer comply with 
                Federal, State, and local requirements designed to 
                protect soil, wetlands, wildlife habitat, the quality 
                of ground water and surface water, or other natural 
                resources.
                    ``(C) Flexibility.--In administering the program, 
                the Secretary shall provide sufficient flexibility for 
                a producer to revise the producer's plan to respond to 
                changes in market conditions, weather, or technology or 
                to adjust and modify the farming operation, except that 
                such revisions must be consistent with the purposes of 
                the program and approved by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Certification.--The Secretary shall certify producer 
        compliance with the terms and conditions of the plan.
            ``(3) Termination.--The Secretary may terminate an 
        agreement entered into with a producer under this program if--
                    ``(A) the producer agrees to such termination; or
                    ``(B) the producer violates the terms and 
                conditions of such agreement.
    ``(h) Program Rules.--
            ``(1) Base and yield protection.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, the Secretary shall not reduce crop acreage 
        bases or farm program payment yields as a result of the 
        planting of a resource-conserving crop.
            ``(2) Payment acres.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
        of law, the Secretary shall not reduce any farm program loans, 
        payments, or benefits of a program participant as a result of 
        the planting of a resource-conserving crop.
            ``(3) Payment rate.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, the Secretary shall provide deficiency payments on 
        resource-conserving crop acreage eligible for payments at a 
        rate not less than the projected deficiency payment rate, as 
        determined and announced each year by the Secretary prior to 
        the period during which producers may agree to participate in 
        the program.
            ``(4) Payment acre protection.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, the Secretary shall not reduce the payment 
        acres or the established price for a program participant who 
        has entered into an agreement with the Secretary for a fixed 
        period of time.
            ``(5) Resource-conserving crops on normal flex acreage.--
        Acreage devoted to resource-conserving crops under this program 
        may, at the discretion of the producer, be designated as normal 
        flex acreage.
            ``(6) Adjustments in production adjustment requirements.--
        Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall 
        make fair and equitable adjustments in acreage limitation 
        requirements applicable to a producer participating in the 
        program giving due consideration to crop rotation, special 
        conservation practices, rotational grazing, biomass production, 
        and other appropriate factors resulting from the implementation 
        of a plan. If the Secretary determines that the reduction in 
        program crop production on a participating farm referred to in 
        the preceding sentence will equal or exceed any reduction in 
        crop production which, in the absence of participation in the 
        program, would occur as a result of acreage limitation 
        requirements, the Secretary shall waive such acreage limitation 
        requirements for the farm. If the resource conserving crop 
        includes a farm program feed grain crop planted on the base 
        acres of another farm program feed grain crop, the Secretary 
        shall take into account the established or county average yield 
        of the two feed grains for the purposes of making the 
        adjustment or waiver.
            ``(7) Total base acreage flexibility.--Notwithstanding any 
        other provision of law, the Secretary shall allow participants 
        in this program to plant farm program crops and oilseeds in any 
        proportion on a producer's total acreage of farm program crop 
        base and historic oilseeds acreage without affecting farm 
        program payments.
            ``(8) Crop insurance.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
        of law, acreage devoted to resource-conserving crops under this 
        program shall be eligible for crop insurance pursuant to the 
        Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).
            ``(9) Haying and grazing restriction.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall not make any 
                farm program payments to a producer, who is otherwise 
                eligible to receive such payments, for acreage enrolled 
                in the program if the producer, during the consecutive 
                five month period in each State in which haying and 
                grazing of conserving use acres may be prohibited under 
                the provisions of this Act, grazes breeding cattle or 
                nursing calves or harvests and sells hay on payment 
                acres.
                    ``(B) Transition option.--The restriction in 
                subparagraph (A) shall not apply in the case of a 
                producer who agrees to retire all base acreage enrolled 
                in the program at the end of the agreement period.
                    ``(C) Emergency haying and grazing.--The Secretary 
                shall release acreage devoted to resource-conserving 
                crops for emergency haying and grazing as the result of 
                a natural disaster when the Secretary permits unlimited 
                haying and grazing on--
                            ``(i) reduced acreage under this Act;
                            ``(ii) acreage devoted to a conservation 
                        use under this Act;
                            ``(iii) acreage diverted from production 
                        under a land diversion program established 
                        under this Act; or
                            ``(iv) acreage enrolled in the conservation 
                        reserve program under the Food Security Act of 
                        1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.).''.
    (b) Conforming Repeal.--Section 1451 of the Food, Agriculture, 
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5822) is repealed.
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