[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6849 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6849

To amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy 
      Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and 
    reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct 
 payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election 
payments when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 9, 2008

  Mr. Etheridge (for himself and Mr. Moran of Kansas) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy 
      Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and 
    reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct 
 payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election 
payments when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less, 
                        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. AGGREGATION OF BASE ACRES AND RECONSTITUTION OF FARMS TO 
              ENSURE ELIGIBILITY FOR DIRECT PAYMENTS, COUNTER-CYCLICAL 
              PAYMENTS, OR AVERAGE CROP REVENUE ELECTION PAYMENTS.

    Section 1101(d) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 
(7 U.S.C. 8711(d)) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (2);
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraphs:
            ``(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply--
                    ``(A) to a farm owned by a socially disadvantaged 
                farmer or rancher (as defined in section 355(e) of the 
                Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 
                2003(e)));
                    ``(B) to a farm owned by a limited resource farmer 
                or rancher, as defined by the Secretary; or
                    ``(C) when the aggregate total base acres of all 
                farms of a producer are greater than 10 acres, 
                including farms--
                            ``(i) owned by a producer; and
                            ``(ii) operated by a producer with the 
                        concurrence of the owners of the farm, 
                        including farms operated under a crop-share 
                        lease arrangement.
            ``(3) Reconstitutions.--In addition to other actions the 
        Secretary determines appropriate, the Secretary shall permit a 
        producer to reconstitute any farms of the producer covered 
        under paragraph (2)(C) to exceed the 10 base acre minimum 
        described in paragraph (1) through consolidation of the base 
        acreage of the farms.''.
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