REPORT ON EFFECT OF FARM PROGRAM PAYMENTS.

SEC. 10904. REPORT ON EFFECT OF FARM PROGRAM PAYMENTS. (a) In General.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a review of the effects that payments under production flexibility contracts and market loss assistance payments have had, and that direct payments and counter-cyclical payments are likely to have, on the economic viability of producers and the farming infrastructure, particularly in areas where climate, soil types, and other agronomic conditions severely limit the covered crops that producers can choose to successfully and profitably produce. (b) Case Study Related to Rice Production.—The review shall include a case study of the effects that the payments described in subsection (a), and the forecast effects of increasing these or other fixed payments, are likely to have on rice producers (including tenant rice producers), the rice milling industry, and the economies of rice farming areas in Texas, where harvested rice acreage has fallen from 320,000 acres in 1995 to only 211,000 acres in 2001. (c) Report and Recommendations.— (1) Report.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the information collected for the review and tne case study and any findings made on the basis of the information. (2) Recommendations.—The report shall include recommendations for minimizing the adverse effects on producers, with a special focus on— (A) producers who are tenants; (B) the agricultural economies in farming areas generally; (C) particular areas described in subsection (a); and (D) on the area that is the subject of the case study conducted under subsection (b).