§7232 Loan rates for marketing assistance loans

Summary

Requires the Agriculture Department (USDA) to set the loan rates farmers get for marketing assistance loans for many crops. For wheat, corn, soybeans, and several oilseeds the baseline is at least 85% of the simple average price farmers got over the last five marketing years, leaving out the single highest and single lowest year. Wheat rates cannot be above $2.58 per bushel, and corn rates cannot be above $1.89 per bushel. If USDA estimates ending stocks divided by total use are high, it can cut the wheat loan up to 10% when the ratio is 30% or more, or up to 5% when the ratio is between 15% and 30%; it cannot cut if the ratio is under 15%. For corn the cut rules are the same but use 25% and 12.5% as the thresholds. Grain sorghum, barley, and oats are set to be fair compared to corn and consider feeding value. Upland cotton uses a special price formula but must be between $0.50 and $0.5192 per pound. Extra long staple cotton must be at least 85% of a recent average and no more than $0.7965 per pound. Rice is set at $6.50 per hundredweight. Soybean rates must follow the 85% rule but be no less than $4.92 or more than $5.26 per bushel. Sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, mustard seed, and flaxseed each follow the 85% rule and must be between $0.087 and $0.093 per pound. Other oilseeds are set relative to soybeans and cannot be paid less per pound than soybeans (except cottonseed).