[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S1743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. THUNE (for himself and Ms. Stabenow):
  S. 3479. A bill to amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to encourage 
the planting of cover crops following prevented planting, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3479

       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 ``Cover Crop Flexibility Act 
     of 2020''.

     SEC. 2. COVER CROPS PLANTED DUE TO PREVENTED PLANTING.

       (a) In General.--Section 508A of the Federal Crop Insurance 
     Act (7 U.S.C. 1508a) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (c)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii)--
       (i) by striking ``collect an indemnity'' and inserting the 
     following: ``collect--

       ``(I) an indemnity'';

       (ii) in subclause (I) (as so designated), by striking the 
     period at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
       (iii) by adding at the end the following:

       ``(II) an indemnity payment that is equal to the prevented 
     planting guarantee for the acreage for the first crop, if the 
     second crop--

       ``(aa) is an approved cover crop that--
       ``(AA) will be planted for use as animal feed or bedding 
     that is hayed, grazed (rotationally, adaptively, or at equal 
     to or less than the carrying capacity), or chopped outside of 
     the primary nesting season; or
       ``(BB) will not be harvested, such as a crop with an 
     intended use of being left standing or cover; and
       ``(bb) cannot be harvested for grain or other uses 
     unrelated to livestock forage or conservation, as determined 
     by the Corporation.''; and
       (B) in paragraph (3)--
       (i) by inserting ``a second crop described in item (aa) or 
     (bb) of paragraph (1)(B)(ii)(II), or'' before ``double 
     cropping''; and
       (ii) by striking ``make an election under paragraph 
     (1)(B)'' and inserting ``makes an election under paragraph 
     (1)(B)(ii)(I)''; and
       (2) by inserting at the end the following:
       ``(f) Prevented Planting Coverage Factors.--For producers 
     that plant cover crops following prevented planting, the 
     Corporation may provide separate prevented planting coverage 
     factors that include preplanting costs, the cost of cover 
     crop seed, and the cost of fencing and supplying water to 
     livestock.''.
       (b) Research and Development.--Section 522(c) of the 
     Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(20) Cover crops.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Corporation shall carry out research 
     and development, or offer to enter into 1 or more contracts 
     with 1 or more qualified persons to carry out research and 
     development, regarding a policy to insure crops on fields 
     that regularly utilize cover crops.
       ``(B) Requirements.--Research and development under 
     subparagraph (A) shall include--
       ``(i) a review of prevented planting coverage factors 
     described in section 508A(f) and an evaluation of whether to 
     include cover crop seed costs and costs related to grazing in 
     the calculation of a factor;
       ``(ii) the extent to which cover crops reduce the risk of 
     subsequent prevented planting;
       ``(iii) the extent to which cover crops make crops more 
     resilient to or otherwise reduce the risk of loss resulting 
     from natural disasters such as drought;
       ``(iv) the extent to which increased regularity of using 
     cover crops or interactions with other practices such as 
     tillage or rotation affects risk reduction;
       ``(v) whether rotational, adaptive, or other prescribed 
     grazing of cover crops can maintain or improve risk 
     reduction; and
       ``(vi) how best to account for any reduced risk and provide 
     a benefit to producers using cover crops through a separate 
     plan or policy of insurance.
       ``(C) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
     enactment of this paragraph, the Corporation shall make 
     available on the website of the Corporation, and 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--
       ``(i) describes the results of the research and development 
     carried out under subparagraph (A); and
       ``(ii) includes any recommendations with respect to those 
     results.''.
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