program acreages and payment yields; set-aside program

program acreages and payment yields; set-aside program Sec. 502. Effective only for the 1978 through 1981 crops of feed grains, the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended, is amended by adding subsections (d) through (i) to section 105A to read as follows: “(d) (1) The Secretary shall proclaim a national program acreage for each of the 1978 through 1981 crops of feed grains. The proclamation shall be made not later than November 15 of each calendar year for the crop harvested in the next succeeding calendar year. The Secretary may revise the national program acreage first proclaimed for 91 STAT. 931any crop year for the purpose of determining the allocation factor under paragraph (2) of this subsection if the Secretary determines it necessary based upon the latest information, and the Secretary shall proclaim such revised national program acreage as soon as it is made. The national program acreage for feed grains shall be the number of harvested acres the Secretary determines (on the basis of the weighted national average of the farm program payment yields for the crop for which the determination is made) will produce the quantity (less imports) that the Secretary estimates will be utilized domestically and for export during the marketing year for such crop. If the Secretary determines that the carryover stocks of feed grains are excessive or an increase in stocks is needed to assure desirable carryover, the Secretary may adjust the national program acreage by the amount the Secretary determines will accomplish the desired increase or decrease in carry-over stocks. “(2) The Secretary shall determine a program allocation factor for each crop of feed grains. The allocation factor for feed grains shall be determined by dividing the national program acreage for the crop by the number of acres which the Secretary estimates will be harvested for such crop: Provided, That in no event shall the allocation factor for any crop of feed grains be more than 100 per centum nor less than 80 per centum. “(3) The individual farm program acreage for each crop of feed grains shall be determined by multiplying the allocation factor by the acreage of feed grains planted for harvest on the farms for which individual farm program acreages are required to be determined: Provided, That the feed grain acreage eligible for payments shall not be further reduced by application of the allocation factor if the producers reduce the acreage of feed grains planted for harvest on the farm from the previous year by at least the percentage recommended by the Secretary in the proclamation of the national program acreage made not later than November 15 prior to the year in which the crop is harvested. The Secretary shall provide fair and equitable treatment for producers on farms on which the acreage of feed grains planted for harvest is less than for the preceding year, but the reduction is insufficient to exempt the farm from the application of the allocation factor. In establishing the allocation factor for feed grains, the Secretary is authorized to make such adjustment as the Secretary deems necessary to take into account the extent of exemption of farms under the foregoing provisions of this paragraph. “(e) The farm program payment yield for each crop of feed grains shall be the yield established for the farm for the previous crop year, adjusted by the Secretary to provide a fair and equitable yield. If no payment yield for feed grains was established for the farm in the previous crop year, the Secretary is authorized to determine such yield as the Secretary finds fair and reasonable. Notwithstanding the fore-going provisions of this subsection, in the determination of yields, the Secretary shall take into account the actual yields proved by the producer, and neither such yields nor the farm program payment yield established on the basis of such yields shall be reduced under other provisions of this subsection. If the Secretary determines it necessary, the Secretary may establish national. State, or county program payment yields on the basis of historical yields, as adjusted by the Secretary to correct for abnormal factors affecting such yields in the historical period, or. if such data are not available, on the Secretary’s estimate of actual yields for the crop year involved. In the event national, State, or county program payment yields are established, the 91 STAT. 932farm program payment yields shall balance to the national, State, or county program payment yields. “(f) (1) The Secretary shall provide for a set-aside of cropland if the Secretary determines that the total supply of feed grains will, in the absence of such a set-aside, likely be excessive taking into account the need for an adequate carryover to maintain reasonable and stable supplies and prices and to meet a national emergency. Any such set-aside shall be announced by tile Secretary not later than November 15 of each calendar year for the crop harvested in the next calendar year. If a set-aside of cropland is in effect under this subsection, then as a condition of eligibility for loans, purchases, and payments authorized by this section on corn, grain sorghums, and, if designated by the Secretary, barley and oats, respectively, the producers on a farm must set aside and devote to conservation uses an acreage of cropland equal to a specified percentage, as determined by the Secretary, of the feed grain acreage planted for harvest for the crop year for which the set-aside is in effect. The Secretary may limit the acreage planted to feed grains. Such limitation shall be applied on a uniform basis to all feed grain-producing farms. The set-aside acreage shall be devoted to conservation uses, in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary, which will assure protection of such acreage from weeds and wind and water erosion; however, the Secretary may permit, subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, all or any part of the set- aside acreage to be devoted to sweet sorghum, hay, and grazing or the production of guar, sesame, safflower, sunflower, castor beans, mustard seed, crambe, plantago ovato, flaxseed, triticale, oats, rye, or other commodity, if the Secretary determines that such production is needed to provide an adequate supply, is not likely to increase the cost of the price support program, and will not adversely affect farm income. “(2) The Secretary may make land diversion payments to producers of feed grains, whether or not a set-aside for feed grains is in effect, if the Secretary determines that such land diversion payments are necessary to assist in adjusting the total national acreage of feed grains to desirable goals. Such land diversion payments shall be made to producers on a farm who, to the extent prescribed by the Secretary, devote to approved conservation uses an acreage of cropland on the farm in accordance with land diversion contracts entered into by the Secretary with such producers. The amounts payable to producers under land diversion contracts may be determined through the sub-mission of bids for such contracts by producers in such manner as the Secretary may prescribe or through such other means as the Secretary determines appropriate. In determining the acceptability of contract offers, the Secretary shall take into consideration the extent of the diversion to be undertaken by the producers and the productivity of the acreage diverted. The Secretary shall limit the total acreage to be diverted under agreements in any county or local community so as not to affect adversely the economy of the county or local community. “(3) The set-aside acreage and the additional diverted acreage may be devoted to wildlife food plots or wildlife habitat in conformity with standards established by the Secretary in consultation with wildlife agencies. The Secretary may pay an appropriate share of the cost of practices designed to carry out the purposes of the foregoing sentence. The Secretary may provide for an additional payment on such acreage in an amount determined by the Secretary to be appropriate in relation to the benefit to the general public if the producer agrees to permit, without other compensation, access to all or such portion of the farm, as the Secretary may prescribe, by the general public, for hunt-91 STAT. 933ing, trapping, fishing, and hiking, subject to applicable State and Federal regulations. “(4) The Secretary may make such adjustments in individual set-aside acreages under this section as the Secretary determines necessary to correct for abnormal factors affecting production, and to give due consideration to tillable acreage, crop-rotation practices, types of soil, soil and water conservation measures, and topography, and such other factors as the Secretary deems necessary. “(5) If the operator of the farm desires to participate in the program formulated under this subsection, the operator shall file an agreement to do so no later than such date as the Secretary may prescribe. Loans, purchases, and payments under this section shall be made available to producers on such farm only if the producers set aside and devote to approved soil conserving uses an acreage on the farm equal to the number of acres which the operator agrees to set aside and devote to approved soil conserving uses, and the agreement shall so provide. The Secretary may, by mutual agreement with the producers, terminate or modify any such agreement entered into pursuant to this subsection if the Secretary determines such action necessary because of an emergency created by drought or other disaster, or in order to prevent or alleviate a shortage in the supply of agricultural commodities. “(g) In any case in which the failure of a producer to comply fully with the terms and conditions of the program formulated under this section precludes the making of loans, purchases, and payments, the Secretary may, nevertheless, make such loans, purchases, and payments in such amounts as the Secretary determines to be equitable in relation to the seriousness of the default. “(h) The Secretary is authorized to issue such regulations as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. “(i) The Secretary shall carry out the program authorized by this section through the Commodity Credit Corporation.”.