7 U.S.C. § 7915 — Producer agreement required as condition of provision of direct payments and counter-cyclical payments
submitted 24 years ago by Pub. L. 107-171 to r/title-7-AGRICULTURE · 478 words · no verdicts yet
Before getting direct or counter-cyclical payments, producers must agree to follow conservation, wetland, and planting rules, and keep their base acres in farming or conservation use. Selling or transferring the land usually ends the payments unless the new owner takes on those same duties. Producers must also file yearly acreage reports, and payments must be shared fairly, with protections for tenants and sharecroppers.
(a) Compliance with certain requirements. Before producers on a farm can get direct or counter-cyclical payments, they must agree — during the crop year the payments cover, in exchange for those payments — to five things: (A) follow the conservation requirements in the Food Security Act of 1985; (B) follow that Act's wetland protection requirements; (C) follow the planting flexibility rules in section 7916; (D) use the farm's base acres (and any peanut base acres) for farming or conservation, not for nonfarm commercial or industrial use, as the Secretary* decides; and (E), if any of that land is kept out of cultivation for conservation, control noxious weeds and otherwise farm it soundly, as the Secretary decides. The Secretary may issue rules needed to make sure producers actually comply, and may modify these requirements at a transferee's or owner's request, as long as the changes still fit the requirements' purpose.
(b) Transfer or change of interest in farm. If the producers' interest in base acres receiving these payments is sold or changed, the payments normally stop — unless the new producer* or owner agrees to take on all the same obligations under (a). That stoppage takes effect on a date the Secretary sets. But if a producer who's entitled to a payment dies, becomes incompetent, or is otherwise unable to receive the payment, the Secretary must still make the payment, under rules the Secretary issues.
(c) Acreage reports. To get any benefits under this subchapter or subchapter II, producers must file an annual report to the Secretary listing all the farm's cropland.
(d) Tenants and sharecroppers. The Secretary must make sure tenants' and sharecroppers' interests are properly protected while carrying out this subchapter.
(e) Sharing of payments. The Secretary must make sure direct and counter-cyclical payments are divided among the farm's producers fairly and equitably.
Before the producers on a farm may receive direct payments or counter-cyclical payments with respect to the farm, the producers shall agree, during the crop year for which the payments are made and in exchange for the payments—
to comply with applicable conservation requirements under subtitle B of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3811 et seq.);
to comply with applicable wetland protection requirements under subtitle C of title XII of the Act (16 U.S.C. 3821 et seq.);
to comply with the planting flexibility requirements of section 7916 of this title;
to use the land on the farm, in a quantity equal to the attributable base acres for the farm and any base acres for peanuts for the farm under subchapter III for an agricultural or conserving use, and not for a nonagricultural commercial or industrial use, as determined by the Secretary*; and
to effectively control noxious weeds and otherwise maintain the land in accordance with sound agricultural practices, as determined by the Secretary, if the agricultural or conserving use involves the noncultivation of any portion of the land referred to in subparagraph (D).
The Secretary may issue such rules as the Secretary considers necessary to ensure producer* compliance with the requirements of paragraph (1).
At the request of the transferee or owner, the Secretary may modify the requirements of this subsection if the modifications are consistent with the objectives of this subsection, as determined by the Secretary.
Except as provided in paragraph (2), a transfer of (or change in) the interest of the producers on a farm in base acres for which direct payments or counter-cyclical payments are made shall result in the termination of the payments with respect to the base acres, unless the transferee or owner of the acreage agrees to assume all obligations under subsection (a). The termination shall take effect on the date determined by the Secretary.
If a producer entitled to a direct payment* or counter-cyclical payment* dies, becomes incompetent, or is otherwise unable to receive the payment, the Secretary shall make the payment, in accordance with rules issued by the Secretary.
As a condition on the receipt of any benefits under this subchapter or subchapter II, the Secretary shall require producers on a farm to submit to the Secretary annual acreage reports with respect to all cropland on the farm.
In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary shall provide adequate safeguards to protect the interests of tenants and sharecroppers.
The Secretary shall provide for the sharing of direct payments and counter-cyclical payments among the producers on a farm on a fair and equitable basis.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 107–171, title I, § 1105, May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 152.)
- 2002Enacted · Pub. L. 107-171 · 116 Stat. 152
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 107-171 on 2002-05-13.
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