Protect our Prairies Act - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to reduce crop insurance assistance and noninsured crop disaster assistance for crops grown on native sod acreage converted to cropland for the first four years.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 686 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 686
To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to modify the ineligibility
requirements for producers that produce an annual crop on native sod,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 14, 2013
Mrs. Noem (for herself, Mr. Walz, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. Peterson, Mr.
Blumenauer, Mr. Wittman, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, and Mr. Latta)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to modify the ineligibility
requirements for producers that produce an annual crop on native sod,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protect our Prairies Act''.
SEC. 2. CROP PRODUCTION ON NATIVE SOD.
(a) Federal Crop Insurance.--Section 508(o) of the Federal Crop
Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(o)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ``, or the producer
cannot substantiate that the ground has ever been tilled,''
after ``tilled'';
(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``for benefits under--
'' and all that follows through the period at the end and
inserting ``for--
``(i) a portion of crop insurance premium
subsidies under this subtitle in accordance
with paragraph (3);
``(ii) benefits under section 196 of the
Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act
of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333); and
``(iii) payments described in subsection
(b) or (c) of section 1001 of the Food Security
Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308).''; and
(3) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following
new paragraph:
``(3) Administration.--
``(A) In general.--During the first 4 crop years of
planting on native sod acreage (as described in
paragraph (2)) by a producer--
``(i) paragraph (2) shall apply to 65
percent of the transitional yield of the
producer; and
``(ii) the crop insurance premium subsidy
provided for the producer under this subtitle
shall be 50 percentage points less than the
premium subsidy that would otherwise apply.
``(B) Yield substitution.--During the period native
sod acreage is covered by this subsection, a producer
may not substitute yields for the native sod
acreage.''.
(b) Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance.--Section 196(a)(4) of the
Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C.
7333(a)(4)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting ``, or the
producer cannot substantiate that the ground has ever been
tilled,'' after ``tilled'';
(2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking ``for benefits
under--'' and all that follows through the period at the end
and inserting ``for--
``(I) benefits under this section;
``(II) a portion of crop insurance
premium subsidies under the Federal
Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et
seq.) in accordance with subparagraph
(C); and
``(III) payments described in
subsection (b) or (c) of section 1001
of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7
U.S.C. 1308).''; and
(3) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the
following new subparagraph:
``(C) Administration.--
``(i) In general.--During the first 4 crop
years of planting on native sod acreage (as
described in subparagraph (B)) by a producer--
``(I) subparagraph (B) shall apply
to 65 percent of the transitional yield
of the producer; and
``(II) the crop insurance premium
subsidy provided for the producer under
the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7
U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) shall be 50
percentage points less than the premium
subsidy that would otherwise apply.
``(ii) Yield substitution.--During the
period native sod acreage is covered by this
paragraph, a producer may not substitute yields
for the native sod acreage.''.
(c) Cropland Report.--
(1) Baseline.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 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 that describes the cropland
acreage in each county and State, and the change in cropland
acreage from the preceding year in each county and State,
beginning with calendar year 2000 and including that
information for the most recent year for which that information
is available.
(2) Annual updates.--Not later than January 1, 2014, and
each January 1 thereafter through January 1, 2017, the
Secretary of Agriculture 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
that describes--
(A) the cropland acreage in each county and State
as of the date of submission of the report; and
(B) the change in cropland acreage from the
preceding year in each county and State.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.
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