7 U.S.C. § 7952 — Establishment of payment yield and base acres for peanuts for a farm

(a) Figuring historic averages. (1)(A) The Secretary^* must calculate, for each historic peanut producer^*, their average peanut yield on each farm where they grew peanuts between 1998 and 2001 — skipping any year they didn't plant or were prevented from planting. (B) For up to three of those four years, a producer^* can instead use the average county peanut yield from 1990-1997, in place of their own farm's yield. (2)(A) The Secretary must also calculate a 4-year average of (i) acres actually planted to peanuts in 1998-2001, and (ii) acres the producer was prevented from planting due to drought, flood, other disaster, or another qualifying condition. (B) All four years count in this acreage average, even years with no peanut planting. (C) If more than one producer shared the risk on a farm, they split the acreage proportionally, based on their sharing arrangement. (3) The Secretary must make these calculations as soon as practical after May 13, 2002. (4) The Secretary must account for changes in who the producers are since 1998, including rules for assigning acres and yield when (A) a historic producer has died, (B) a group of historic producers has dissolved, or (C) other situations arise.

(b) Assigning the averages to farms. (1) Each historic peanut producer gets one chance to assign their average yield and acreage to cropland on their own farm, or a different farm in the same or a neighboring state^*. (2) An assignment to a neighboring state is only allowed if (A) the producer grew peanuts in that state during at least one of the 1998-2001 years, or (B) as of March 31, 2003, the producer is already a producer on a farm there. (3) The Secretary must notify producers about this one-time opportunity, explaining that it's a one-time choice, describing the neighboring-state limit, and explaining how and when to submit the assignment. (4) Producers must submit their assignment choices by March 31, 2003; if they miss that deadline, the Secretary decides how it gets submitted instead.

(c) Payment yield^*. A farm's official "payment yield," used for direct and counter-cyclical payments, is the average of all yields assigned to it under (b).

(d) Base acres for peanuts^*. Subject to (e), a farm's official "base acres for peanuts" is the total acreage assigned to it under (b).

(e) Conservation reserve land. (1) The Secretary must adjust a farm's base acres for peanuts whenever (A) a conservation reserve contract on the farm expires or is ended early, or (B) the Secretary releases cropland from such a contract. (2) In the year that adjustment first happens, the farm's owner must choose either direct and counter-cyclical payments on the newly added acreage, or a prorated conservation reserve payment — not both.

(f) Keeping base acres from exceeding the farm's real size. (1) If a farm's base acres for peanuts, plus the acreage described in (2), add up to more than the farm's actual cropland, the Secretary must reduce either the peanut base acres or the farm's subchapter I base acres, so the total no longer exceeds the real acreage. (2) That "other acreage" includes: (A) the farm's subchapter I base acres; (B) acreage enrolled in the conservation reserve or wetlands reserve program; and (C) any other acreage enrolled in a program that pays the farm not to grow a commodity. (3) The farm's owner gets to choose which kind of base acres — peanut or subchapter I — gets reduced. (4) The Secretary must make an exception for double-cropped acreage. (5) The Secretary must apply section 7911(g) together with this subsection.

(g) Permanent voluntary reduction. A farm's owner can permanently give up some of the farm's base acres for peanuts at any time, in whatever manner the Secretary prescribes.