skip navigation


TITLE 7 > CHAPTER 100 > SUBCHAPTER VIII > § 7333
Prev | Next

§ 7333. Administration and operation of noninsured crop assistance program

How Current is This?
(a) Operation and administration of program
(1) In general
In the case of an eligible crop described in paragraph (2), the Secretary of Agriculture shall operate a noninsured crop disaster assistance program to provide coverage equivalent to the catastrophic risk protection otherwise available under section 1508 (b) of this title. The Secretary shall carry out this section through the Consolidated Farm Service Agency (in this section referred to as the “Agency”).
(2) Eligible crops
(A) In general
In this section, the term “eligible crop” means each commercial crop or other agricultural commodity (except livestock)—
(i) for which catastrophic risk protection under section 1508 (b) of this title is not available; and
(ii) that is produced for food or fiber.
(B) Crops specifically included
The term “eligible crop” shall include ­floricultural, ornamental nursery, and Christmas tree crops, turfgrass sod, seed crops, aquaculture (including ornamental fish), sea grass and sea oats, and industrial crops.
(C) Combination of similar types or varieties
At the option of the Secretary, all types or varieties of a crop or commodity, described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), may be considered to be a single eligible crop under this section.
(3) Cause of loss
To qualify for assistance under this section, the losses of the noninsured commodity shall be due to drought, flood, or other natural disaster, as determined by the Secretary.
(b) Application for noninsured crop disaster assistance
(1) Timely application
To be eligible for assistance under this section, a producer shall submit an application for noninsured crop disaster assistance at a local office of the Department. The application shall be in such form, contain such information, and be submitted not later than 30 days before the beginning of the coverage period, as determined by the Secretary.
(2) Records
To be eligible for assistance under this section, a producer shall provide annually to the Secretary records of crop acreage, acreage yields, and production for each crop, as required by the Secretary.
(3) Acreage reports
A producer shall provide annual reports on acreage planted or prevented from being planted, as required by the Secretary, by the designated acreage reporting date for the crop and location as established by the Secretary.
(c) Loss requirements
(1) Cause
To be eligible for assistance under this section, a producer of an eligible crop shall have suffered a loss of a noninsured commodity as the result of a cause described in subsection (a)(3) of this section.
(2) Assistance
On making a determination described in subsection (a)(3) of this section, the Secretary shall provide assistance under this section to producers of an eligible crop that have suffered a loss as a result of the cause described in subsection (a)(3) of this section.
(3) Prevented planting
Subject to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make a prevented planting noninsured crop disaster assistance payment if the producer is prevented from planting more than 35 percent of the acreage intended for the eligible crop because of drought, flood, or other natural disaster, as determined by the Secretary.
(4) Area trigger
The Secretary shall provide assistance to individual producers without any requirement of an area loss.
(d) Payment
The Secretary shall make available to a producer eligible for noninsured assistance under this section a payment computed by multiplying—
(1) the quantity that is less than 50 percent of the established yield for the crop; by
(2)
(A) in the case of each of the 1996 through 1998 crop years, 60 percent of the average market price for the crop (or any comparable coverage determined by the Secretary); or
(B) in the case of each of the 1999 and subsequent crop years, 55 percent of the average market price for the crop (or any comparable coverage determined by the Secretary); by
(3) a payment rate for the type of crop (as determined by the Secretary) that—
(A) in the case of a crop that is produced with a significant and variable harvesting expense, reflects the decreasing cost incurred in the production cycle for the crop that is—
(i) harvested;
(ii) planted but not harvested; and
(iii) prevented from being planted because of drought, flood, or other natural disaster (as determined by the Secretary); and
(B) in the case of a crop that is not produced with a significant and variable harvesting expense, as determined by the Secretary.
(e) Yield determinations
(1) Establishment
The Secretary shall establish farm yields for purposes of providing noninsured crop disaster assistance under this section.
(2) Actual production history
The Secretary shall determine yield coverage using the actual production history of the producer over a period of not less than the 4 previous consecutive crop years and not more than 10 consecutive crop years. Subject to paragraph (3), the yield for the year in which noninsured crop disaster assistance is sought shall be equal to the average of the actual production history of the producer during the period considered.
(3) Assignment of yield
If a producer does not submit adequate documentation of production history to determine a crop yield under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall assign to the producer a yield equal to not less than 65 percent of the transitional yield of the producer (adjusted to reflect actual production reflected in the records acceptable to the Secretary for continuous years), as specified in regulations issued by the Secretary based on production history requirements.
(4) Prohibition on assigned yields in certain counties
(A) In general
(i) Documentation If sufficient data are available to demonstrate that the acreage of a crop in a county for the crop year has increased by more than 100 percent over any year in the preceding 7 crop years or, if data are not available, if the acreage of the crop in the county has increased significantly from the previous crop years, a producer must provide such detailed documentation of production costs, acres planted, and yield for the crop year for which benefits are being claimed as is required by the Secretary. If the Secretary determines that the documentation provided is not sufficient, the Secretary may require documenting proof that the crop, had the crop been harvested, could have been marketed at a reasonable price.
(ii) Prohibition Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a producer who produces a crop on a farm located in a county described in clause (i) may not obtain an assigned yield.
(B) Exception
A crop or a producer shall not be subject to this subsection if—
(i) the planted acreage of the producer for the crop has been inspected by a third party acceptable to the Secretary; or
(ii)
(I) the County Executive Director and the State Executive Director recommend an exemption from the requirement to the Administrator of the Agency; and
(II) the Administrator approves the recommendation.
(5) Limitation on receipt of subsequent assigned yield
A producer who receives an assigned yield for the current year of a natural disaster because required production records were not submitted to the local office of the Department shall not be eligible for an assigned yield for the year of the next natural disaster unless the required production records of the previous 1 or more years (as applicable) are provided to the local office.
(6) Yield variations due to different farming practices
The Secretary shall ensure that noninsured crop disaster assistance accurately reflects significant yield variations due to different farming practices, such as between irrigated and nonirrigated acreage.
(f) Contract payments
A producer who has received a guaranteed payment for production, as opposed to delivery, of a crop pursuant to a contract shall have the production of the producer adjusted upward by the amount of the production equal to the amount of the contract payment received.
(g) Use of Commodity Credit Corporation
The Secretary may use the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out this section.
(h) Exclusions
Noninsured crop disaster assistance under this section shall not cover losses due to—
(1) the neglect or malfeasance of the producer;
(2) the failure of the producer to reseed to the same crop in those areas and under such circumstances where it is customary to reseed; or
(3) the failure of the producer to follow good farming practices, as determined by the Secretary.
(i) Payment and income limitations
(1) Definitions
In this subsection:
(A) Person
The term “person” has the meaning provided the term in regulations issued by the Secretary. The regulations shall conform, to the extent practicable, to the regulations defining the term “person” issued under section 1308 of this title.
(B) Qualifying gross revenues
The term “qualifying gross revenues” means—
(i) if a majority of the gross revenue of the person is received from farming, ranching, and forestry operations, the gross revenue from the farming, ranching, and forestry operations of the person; and
(ii) if less than a majority of the gross revenue of the person is received from farming, ranching, and forestry operations, the gross revenue of the person from all sources.
(2) Payment limitation
The total amount of payments that a person shall be entitled to receive annually under this section may not exceed $100,000.
(3) Limitation on multiple benefits for same loss
(A) In general
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), if a producer who is eligible to receive benefits under this section is also eligible to receive assistance for the same loss under any other program administered by the Secretary, the producer shall be required to elect whether to receive benefits under this section or under the other program, but not both.
(B) Exception
Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to emergency loans under subtitle C of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961 et seq.).
(4) Income limitation
A person who has qualifying gross revenues in excess of the amount specified in section 2266(a) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 1421 note ) (as in effect on November 28, 1990) during the taxable year (as determined by the Secretary) shall not be eligible to receive any noninsured assistance payment under this section.
(5) Regulations
The Secretary shall issue regulations prescribing such rules as the Secretary determines necessary to ensure a fair and equitable application of section 1308 of this title, the general payment limitation regulations of the Secretary, and the limitations established under this subsection.
(j) Omitted
(k) Service fee
(1) In general
To be eligible to receive assistance for an eligible crop for a crop year under this section, a producer shall pay to the Secretary (at the time at which the producer submits the application under subsection (b)(1) of this section) a service fee for the eligible crop in an amount that is equal to the lesser of—
(A) $100 per crop per county; or
(B) $300 per producer per county, but not to exceed a total of $900 per producer.
(2) Waiver
The Secretary shall waive the service fee required under paragraph (1) in the case of a limited resource farmer, as defined by the Secretary.
(3) Use
The Secretary shall deposit service fees collected under this subsection in the Commodity Credit Corporation Fund.
Search this title:


Notes
12 Update(s)
Parallel authorities (CFR)

Title 7 RSS RSS feed
Prev | Next

LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.
Study law abroad: Cornell Paris Institute