II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 165 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 4, 2007 Mr. Allard (for himself, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. Hagel) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide compensation for certain livestock losses.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Livestock Assistance Act of 2007.

2.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Disaster county

(A)

In general

The term disaster county means a county included in the geographic area covered by a qualifying natural disaster declaration for calendar year 2006 or 2007, or both, for which the request for the declaration was submitted during the period beginning on January 1, 2006, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act. (B)

Inclusion

The term disaster county includes a county contiguous to a county described in subparagraph (A). (2)

Qualifying natural disaster declaration

The term qualifying natural disaster declaration means— (A)a natural disaster declared by the Secretary under section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)); or (B)a major disaster or emergency designated by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). (3)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture.

3.

Livestock assistance

(a)

Livestock compensation program

(1)

Use of commodity credit corporation funds

Effective beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall use funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out the 2002 Livestock Compensation Program announced by the Secretary on October 10, 2002 (67 Fed. Reg. 63070), to provide compensation for livestock losses due to blizzard and drought in the States of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. (2)

Eligible applicants

In carrying out the program described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide assistance to any applicant that— (A)(i)conducts a livestock operation that is located in a disaster county, including any applicant conducting a livestock operation involving eligible livestock (within the meaning of the livestock assistance program under section 101(b) of division B of Public Law 108–324 (118 Stat. 1234)); or (ii)produces an animal described in section 10806(a)(1) of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (21 U.S.C. 321d(a)(1)); and (B)meets all other eligibility requirements established by the Secretary for the program. (3)

Mitigation

In determining the eligibility for or amount of payments for which a producer is eligible under the livestock compensation program, the Secretary shall not penalize a producer that takes actions (recognizing disaster conditions) that reduce the average number of livestock the producer owned for grazing during the production year for which assistance is being provided. (b)

Livestock indemnity payments

(1)

In general

The Secretary shall use such sums as are necessary of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to make livestock indemnity payments to producers on farms that have incurred livestock losses during calendar year 2006 or 2007, or both, due to a disaster, as determined by the Secretary, including losses due to blizzard and drought. (2)

Payment rates

Indemnity payments to a producer on a farm under paragraph (1) shall be made at a rate of not less than 30 percent of the market value of the applicable livestock on the day before the date of death of the livestock, as determined by the Secretary.