[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14472-14475]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05710]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency


Risk Management Agency; 2014 Farm Bill Implementation Listening 
Session

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In preparing to implement the Agricultural Act of 2014 
(commonly referred to as the 2014 Farm Bill), we are hosting a 
listening session for initial public input about the new programs and 
changes to existing programs for which the Farm Service Agency (FSA) 
and the Risk Management Agency (RMA) have been delegated the authority 
to implement. The 2014 Farm Bill is intended to maintain a strong farm 
safety-net, restore funding for a

[[Page 14473]]

number of critical programs including disaster assistance that has 
lapsed, conserve our natural resources, and prepare the nation for the 
next generation of farming and agriculture. The listening session will 
provide an opportunity for stakeholders to voice their priorities, 
concerns, or requests. Examples of new programs FSA will implement 
include the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC), 
and Dairy Margin Protection Programs (MPP-Dairy). RMA will be 
implementing the new Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), Stacked Income 
Protection Plan (STAX) for producers of upland cotton, conservation 
compliance requirements, and several new program revisions leading to 
enhanced crop insurance coverage. Instructions regarding registering 
for and attending the listening session are in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this notice.

DATES: Listening session: The listening session will be on March 27, 
2014, and will begin at 9:00 a.m. and is scheduled to end by 5:00 p.m.
    Registration: You must register by March 15, 2014, to attend the 
listening session and to provide oral comments during the listening 
session.
    Comments: Written comments are due by April 2, 2014.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to participate in the listening session. The 
listening session is open to the public. The meeting will be held in 
the Jefferson Auditorium of the South Building at 14th Street and 
Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20250.
    We also invite you to submit comments by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments; or
     Orally at the listening session; please also provide a 
written copy of your comments online as specified above or in hard copy 
at the listening session.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Stephenson; phone: (202) 720-
4019. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for 
communication (Braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) should contact 
the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 7, 2014, the 2014 Farm Bill 
(Pub. L. 113-79) was signed into law. The Secretary of Agriculture and 
the respective USDA agencies, including, but not limited to FSA and 
RMA, are working to implement the provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill as 
expeditiously as possible to meet the needs of producers and other 
stakeholders. In order to implement the provisions expeditiously and to 
ensure transparency, it is important to hear from stakeholders to be 
aware of their priorities, concerns, or requests.
    FSA and RMA will hold the listening session on the following date 
and location. The listening session is open to the public. The 
stakeholders and public are invited to provide oral comments during the 
meeting on March 27, 2014. A written copy of the oral comments is 
requested. (See the ADDRESSES section above for information about 
submitting written comments.) In addition, written comments may be 
submitted by April 2, 2014. As a listening session, the focus is for 
FSA and RMA to hear from the public; this is not a discussion with FSA 
and RMA officials or a question and answer session. The purpose is to 
receive public input that each agency can factor into discretionary 
decisions that need to be made to implement the provisions of the 2014 
Farm Bill.

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             Date                      Time         Location information
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March 27, 2014................  9:00 a.m.-5:00     USDA headquarters, in
                                 p.m.               the South Building,
                                                    Jefferson Auditorium
                                                    14th Street and
                                                    Independence Ave.
                                                    SW., Washington, DC
                                                    20250.
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    The listening session will begin with brief opening remarks from 
the USDA Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. 
Individual speakers providing oral comments will be limited to an 
estimated 3-5 minutes; however, this time will be adjusted based on 
stakeholder interest. As noted above, we request that speakers 
providing oral comments also provide a written copy of their comments. 
(See the ADDRESSES section above for information about submitting 
written comments.) All stakeholders and interested members of the 
public are welcome to register to provide oral comments; however, due 
to the time constraints a limited number will be selected on a first 
come, first serve basis.
    The purpose of the listening session is for FSA and RMA to hear 
from stakeholders and other interested members of the public about the 
programs that are being implemented or revised by FSA or RMA as 
required by the 2014 Farm Bill. Please refer to the name of the FSA or 
RMA program in your comment and the relevant section number in the 2014 
Farm Bill. In your comments, provide your input about the program, 
changes, outreach, education, tools, and anything else that may be 
helpful for us as we implement the new programs and changes. The 
following list of programs that span multiple sections in the 2014 Farm 
Bill or program names that may not be obvious from the section title 
include:
     New ARC and PLC Programs (2014 Farm Bill sections 1111-
1118);
     Revised MAL and LDP for 2015 and subsequent crops and the 
extension of the Sugar Program and the related Feedstock Flexibility 
Program (2014 Farm Bill sections 1201-1210, 1301, and 9009);
     New MPP-Dairy and the new Dairy Product Donation Program 
(2014 Farm Bill sections 1401-1422, 1425, and 1431);
     Revised disaster assistance programs for 2015 and 
subsequent crops, including the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the 
Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), the Emergency Assistance for 
Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP), and the Tree 
Assistance Program (TAP) (2014 Farm Bill section 1501);
     Common provisions for payment limits & payment eligibility 
for 2015 and subsequent crops (2014 Farm Bill sections 1603 and 1605);
     Actively engaged requirements for payment eligibility 
(2014 Farm Bill section 1604);
     Highly erodible land and wetland conservation for crop 
insurance (2014 Farm Bill section 2611); and
     New SCO and STAX programs (2014 Farm Bill sections 11003 
and 11017).
    To identify the section numbers for your comments and to find the 
relevant text for FSA and RMA programs in the 2014 Farm Bill, which is 
available on the FSA Farm Bill Web page (http://www.fsa.usda.gov/farmbill), the following is an excerpt from the 2014 Farm Bill Table of 
Contents that focuses on the sections for the FSA and RMA programs:


[[Page 14474]]



Agricultural Act of 2014

Title I--Commodities

Subtitle A--Repeals and Reforms

Part II--Commodity Policy

Sec. 1111. Definitions.
Sec. 1112. Base acres.
Sec. 1113. Payment yields.
Sec. 1114. Payment acres.
Sec. 1115. Producer election.
Sec. 1116. Price loss coverage.
Sec. 1117. Agriculture risk coverage.
Sec. 1118. Producer agreements.
Sec. 1119. Transition assistance for producers of upland cotton.

Subtitle B--Marketing Loans

Sec. 1201. Availability of nonrecourse marketing assistance loans 
for loan commodities.
Sec. 1202. Loan rates for nonrecourse marketing assistance loans.
Sec. 1203. Term of loans.
Sec. 1204. Repayment of loans.
Sec. 1205. Loan deficiency payments.
Sec. 1206. Payments in lieu of loan deficiency payments for grazed 
acreage.
Sec. 1207. Special marketing loan provisions for upland cotton.
Sec. 1208. Special competitive provisions for extra long staple 
cotton.
Sec. 1209. Availability of recourse loans for high moisture feed 
grains and seed cotton.
Sec. 1210. Adjustments of loans.

Subtitle C--Sugar

Sec. 1301. Sugar policy.

Subtitle D--Dairy

Part I--Margin Protection Program for Dairy Producers

Sec. 1401. Definitions.
Sec. 1402. Calculation of average feed cost and actual dairy 
production margins.
Sec. 1403. Establishment of margin protection program for dairy 
producers.
Sec. 1404. Participation of dairy operations in margin protection 
program.
Sec. 1405. Production history of participating dairy operations.
Sec. 1406. Margin protection payments.
Sec. 1407. Premiums for margin protection program.
Sec. 1408. Effect of failure to pay administrative fees or premiums.
Sec. 1409. Duration.
Sec. 1410. Administration and enforcement.

Part II--Repeal or Reauthorization of Other Dairy-Related Provisions

Sec. 1421. Repeal of dairy product price support program.
Sec. 1422. Temporary continuation and eventual repeal of milk income 
loss contract program.
Sec. 1423. Repeal of dairy export incentive program.
Sec. 1424. Extension of dairy forward pricing program.
Sec. 1425. Extension of dairy indemnity program.
Sec. 1426. Extension of dairy promotion and research program.
Sec. 1427. Repeal of Federal Milk Marketing Order Review Commission.

Part III--Dairy Product Donation Program

Sec. 1431. Dairy product donation program.

Subtitle E--Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance Programs

Sec. 1501. Supplemental agricultural disaster assistance.

Subtitle F--Administration

Sec. 1601. Administration generally.
Sec. 1603. Payment limitations.
Sec. 1604. Rulemaking related to significant contribution for active 
personal management.
Sec. 1605. Adjusted gross income limitation.
Sec. 1606. Geographically disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
Sec. 1607. Personal liability of producers for deficiencies.
Sec. 1608. Prevention of deceased individuals receiving payments 
under farm commodity programs.
Sec. 1609. Technical corrections.
Sec. 1610. Appeals.
Sec. 1612. Tracking of benefits.
Sec. 1613. Signature authority.
Sec. 1614. Implementation.
Sec. 1615. Research option.

Title II--Conservation

Subtitle A--Conservation Reserve Program

Sec. 2001. Extension and enrollment requirements of conservation 
reserve program.
Sec. 2002. Farmable wetland program.
Sec. 2003. Duties of owners and operators.
Sec. 2004. Duties of the Secretary.
Sec. 2005. Payments.
Sec. 2006. Contract requirements.
Sec. 2007. Conversion of land subject to contract to other 
conserving uses.
Sec. 2008. Effect on existing contracts.

Subtitle G--Funding and Administration

Sec. 2602. Technical assistance.
Sec. 2604. Reservation of funds to provide assistance to certain 
farmers or ranchers for conservation access.
Sec. 2606. Administrative requirements applicable to all 
conservation programs.
Sec. 2609. Wetlands mitigation.
Sec. 2610. Lesser prairie-chicken conservation report.
Sec. 2611. Highly erodible land and wetland conservation for crop 
insurance.
Sec. 2712. Temporary administration of conservation programs.

Title V--Credit

Subtitle A--Farm Ownership Loans

Sec. 5001. Eligibility for farm ownership loans.

Subtitle B--Operating Loans

Sec. 5101. Eligibility for farm operating loans.
Sec. 5105. Valuation of local or regional crops.
Sec. 5106. Microloans.

Subtitle C--Emergency Loans

Sec. 5201. Eligibility for emergency loans.

Subtitle D--Administrative Provisions

Sec. 5302. Farmer loan pilot projects.

Subtitle E--Miscellaneous

Sec. 5402. Loans to purchasers of highly fractionated land.

Title IX--Energy

Sec. 9009. Feedstock Flexibility Program for Bioenergy Producers.
Sec. 9010. Biomass Crop Assistance Program.

Title XI--Crop Insurance

Sec. 11001. Information sharing.
Sec. 11002. Publication of information on violations of prohibition 
on premium adjustments.
Sec. 11003. Supplemental coverage option.
Sec. 11004. Crop margin coverage option.
Sec. 11005. Premium amounts for catastrophic risk protection.
Sec. 11006. Permanent enterprise unit subsidy.
Sec. 11007. Enterprise units for irrigated and nonirrigated crops.
Sec. 11008. Data collection.
Sec. 11009. Adjustment in actual production history to establish 
insurable yields.
Sec. 11010. Submission of policies and Board review and approval.
Sec. 11011. Consultation.
Sec. 11012. Budget limitations on renegotiation of the standard 
reinsurance agreement.
Sec. 11013. Test weight for corn.
Sec. 11014. Crop production on native sod.
Sec. 11015. Coverage levels by practice.
Sec. 11016. Beginning farmer and rancher provisions.
Sec. 11017. Stacked income protection plan for producers of upland 
cotton.
Sec. 11018. Peanut revenue crop insurance.
Sec. 11019. Authority to correct errors.
Sec. 11020. Implementation.
Sec. 11021. Crop insurance fraud.
Sec. 11022. Research and development priorities.
Sec. 11023. Crop insurance for organic crops.
Sec. 11024. Program compliance partnerships.
Sec. 11025. Pilot programs.
Sec. 11026. Index-based weather insurance pilot program.
Sec. 11027. Enhancing producer self-help through farm financial 
benchmarking.
Sec. 11028. Technical amendments.

Title XII--Miscellaneous

Subtitle B--Socially Disadvantaged Producers and Limited Resource 
Producers

Sec. 12204. Receipt for service or denial of service from certain 
department of agriculture agencies.

Subtitle C--Other Miscellaneous Provisions

Sec. 12305. Noninsured crop assistance program.

Instructions for Attending the Meeting

    Space for attendance at the meeting is limited. Due to USDA 
headquarters security and space requirements, all persons wishing to 
attend the public meeting or provide oral comments to FSA and RMA 
during the listening session must send an email to 
[email protected] by March 25, 2014, to register the names 
of

[[Page 14475]]

those planning to attend. Registrations will be accepted until maximum 
room capacity is reached. To register, provide the following 
information:

 First Name
 Last Name
 Organization
 Title
 Email
 City
 State

    Upon arrival at the USDA South Building, registered persons must 
provide valid photo identification in order to enter the building; 
visitors need to enter the South Building through Wing 4. Please allow 
extra time to get through security. Additional information about the 
listening session, agenda, directions to get to the listening session, 
and how to provide comments is available at the FSA Farm Bill Web site: 
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/farmbill.
    All written comments received will be publicly available on 
www.regulations.gov.
    If you require special accommodations, such as a sign language 
interpreter, use the contact information above. The listening session 
location is accessible to persons with disabilities.

    Signed on: March 11, 2014.
Michael T. Scuse,
Under Secretary, Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services.
[FR Doc. 2014-05710 Filed 3-12-14; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P