7 U.S.C. § 8711 — Base acres

(a) Adjustment of base acres.
(1) In general. The Secretary must provide for an appropriate adjustment in a farm’s base acres for covered commodities whenever any of these circumstances occurs:
(A) A conservation reserve contract under section 1231 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831) for the farm expires or is voluntarily terminated, or the contract was terminated or expired during the period beginning October 1, 2007, and ending on the date this Act was enacted.
(B) The Secretary releases cropland from coverage under a conservation reserve contract, or the cropland was released during the period beginning October 1, 2007, and ending on the date this Act was enacted.
(C) The producer^* has eligible pulse crop^* acreage. The acreage must be determined in the same way as eligible oilseed acreage under section 7911(a)(2).
(D) The producer has eligible oilseed acreage because the Secretary designated additional oilseeds. The acreage must be determined in the same way as eligible oilseed acreage under section 7911(a)(2).
(2) Special conservation reserve acreage payment rules. For the crop year in which an adjustment under paragraph (1)(A) or (B) is first made, the farm owner must choose one of two payments for the acreage added under this subsection: direct payments and counter-cyclical payments for that acreage, or a prorated payment under the conservation reserve contract. The owner may not receive both.
(b) Prevention of excess base acres.
(1) Required reduction. If the farm’s base acres plus the acreage described in paragraph (2) exceed the farm’s actual cropland acreage, the Secretary must reduce the base acres for one or more covered commodities or the farm’s peanut base acres. The reduction must make the base acres plus the paragraph (2) acreage no more than the farm’s actual cropland acreage.
(2) Other acreage. For paragraph (1), the Secretary must include—
(A) the farm’s peanut base acres;
(B) acreage on the farm enrolled in the conservation reserve program or wetlands reserve program under chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3830 et seq.);
(C) other acreage on the farm enrolled in a Federal conservation program that pays the producer in exchange for not producing an agricultural commodity on that acreage;
(D) eligible pulse crop acreage, determined in the same way as eligible oilseed acreage under section 7911(a)(2); and
(E) if the Secretary designates additional oilseeds, eligible oilseed acreage, determined in the same way as eligible oilseed acreage under section 7911(a)(2).
(3) Selection of acres. The Secretary must give the farm owner an opportunity to choose the covered-commodity base acres or peanut base acres against which the paragraph (1) reduction will be made.
(4) Exception for double-cropped acreage. When applying paragraph (1), the Secretary must make an exception for double cropping as the Secretary determines.
(5) Coordinated application of requirements. When applying this subsection, the Secretary must take section 8752(b) into account.
(c) Reduction in base acres.
(1) Reduction at option of owner.
(A) In general. A farm owner may reduce the farm’s base acres for any covered commodity^* at any time.
(B) Effect of reduction. A reduction under subparagraph (A) is permanent and must be made in the way the Secretary prescribes.
(2) Required action by Secretary.
(A) In general. The Secretary must proportionately reduce a farm’s covered-commodity base acres for land that has been subdivided and developed for multiple residential units or other nonfarming uses if the tract sizes and subdivision density make it unlikely that the land will return to its previous agricultural use. The Secretary may not make that reduction if the farm’s producers show that the land—
(i) remains devoted to commercial agricultural production; or
(ii) is likely to return to its previous agricultural use.
(B) Requirement. The Secretary must establish procedures for identifying land described in subparagraph (A).
(3) Review and report. Each year, to ensure as much as practicable that payments go only to producers, the Secretary must send Congress a report describing the results of actions taken under paragraph (2).
(d) Treatment of farms with limited base acres.
(1) Prohibition on payments. Except as paragraph (2) provides, and despite any other provision of this chapter, a producer on a farm may not receive direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments if the farm’s total base acres are 10 acres or less, as the Secretary determines.
(2) Exceptions. Paragraph (1) does not apply to a farm owned by—
(A) a socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher, as defined in section 2003(e); or
(B) a limited-resource farmer or rancher, as defined by the Secretary.
(3) Data collection and publication. The Secretary must—
(A) collect and publish separated data and survey information about farm profiles, land use, and crop production; and
(B) evaluate the supply and price of fruits and vegetables based on the effects of suspending base acres under this section.
(4) Suspension of prohibition. Paragraphs (1) through (3) do not apply during the 2008 crop year.