[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5879 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5879

  To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to modify the ineligibility 
 requirements for producers that produce an annual crop on native sod, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 31, 2012

   Mrs. Noem (for herself and Mr. Walz of Minnesota) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to modify the ineligibility 
 requirements for producers that produce an annual crop on native sod, 
                        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 ``Protect our Prairies Act''.

SEC. 2. CROP PRODUCTION ON NATIVE SOD.

    (a) Federal Crop Insurance.--Section 508(o) of the Federal Crop 
Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(o)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ``, or the producer 
        cannot substantiate that the ground has ever been tilled,'' 
        after ``tilled'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``for benefits under--
        '' and all that follows through the period at the end and 
        inserting ``for--
                            ``(i) a portion of crop insurance premium 
                        subsidies under this subtitle in accordance 
                        with paragraph (3);
                            ``(ii) benefits under section 196 of the 
                        Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act 
                        of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333); and
                            ``(iii) payments described in subsection 
                        (b) or (c) of section 1001 of the Food Security 
                        Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308).''; and
            (3) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
            ``(3) Administration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--During the first 4 crop years of 
                planting on native sod acreage by a producer described 
                in paragraph (2)--
                            ``(i) paragraph (2) shall apply to 65 
                        percent of the transitional yield of the 
                        producer; and
                            ``(ii) the crop insurance premium subsidy 
                        provided for the producer under this subtitle 
                        shall be 50 percentage points less than the 
                        premium subsidy that would otherwise apply.
                    ``(B) Yield substitution.--During the period native 
                sod acreage is covered by this subsection, a producer 
                may not substitute yields for the native sod 
                acreage.''.
    (b) Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance.--Section 196(a)(4) of the 
Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 
7333(a)(4)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting ``, or the 
        producer cannot substantiate that the ground has ever been 
        tilled,'' after ``tilled'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ``for benefits 
        under--'' and all that follows through the period at the end 
        and inserting ``for--
                                    ``(I) benefits under this section;
                                    ``(II) a portion of crop insurance 
                                premium subsidies under the Federal 
                                Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et 
                                seq.) in accordance with subparagraph 
                                (C); and
                                    ``(III) payments described in 
                                subsection (b) or (c) of section 1001 
                                of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 
                                U.S.C. 1308).''; and
            (3) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(C) Administration.--
                            ``(i) In general.--During the first 4 crop 
                        years of planting on native sod acreage by a 
                        producer described in subparagraph (B)--
                                    ``(I) subparagraph (B) shall apply 
                                to 65 percent of the transitional yield 
                                of the producer; and
                                    ``(II) the crop insurance premium 
                                subsidy provided for the producer under 
                                the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 
                                U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) shall be 50 
                                percentage points less than the premium 
                                subsidy that would otherwise apply.
                            ``(ii) Yield substitution.--During the 
                        period native sod acreage is covered by this 
                        paragraph, a producer may not substitute yields 
                        for the native sod acreage.''.
    (c) Cropland Report.--
            (1) Baseline.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
        submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
        and Forestry of the Senate a report that describes the cropland 
        acreage in each county and State, and the change in cropland 
        acreage from the preceding year in each county and State, 
        beginning with calendar year 2000 and including that 
        information for the most recent year for which that information 
        is available.
            (2) Annual updates.--Not later than January 1, 2014, and 
        each January 1 thereafter through January 1, 2017, the 
        Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on 
        Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
        on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report 
        that describes--
                    (A) the cropland acreage in each county and State 
                as of the date of submission of the report; and
                    (B) the change in cropland acreage from the 
                preceding year in each county and State.
                                 <all>