§8716 Producer agreement required as condition of provision of payments

Summary

Producers must agree to certain rules to get direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments for a crop year. They must follow conservation and wetland protection rules, follow planting flexibility rules, and use the farm’s land equal to its attributable base acres (and any peanut base acres) only for farming or conservation, not for commercial, industrial, or residential uses. If they leave some land uncultivated, they must control noxious weeds and keep it in good farming condition. The USDA Secretary can make rules to enforce these duties and can change them for a new owner or transferee if the changes still meet the goals. If a producer transfers or changes their interest in base acres, payments stop unless the new owner agrees to take on these duties; the Secretary decides when the payments end. If a producer dies, becomes incompetent, or cannot receive a payment, the Secretary will make the payment under rules the Secretary sets. To get benefits, producers must file yearly acreage reports for all cropland and yearly production reports for covered commodities and peanuts. No penalty will be applied for an inaccurate report unless it was knowingly and willfully falsified. The Secretary must protect tenants and sharecroppers and must make sure payments are shared fairly among producers on a farm. For the 2008 crop year, the Secretary must extend the signup deadline for farms with 10 or fewer base acres until the later of November 14, 2008, or the end of the 45-day period starting October 13, 2008. The Secretary must not penalize those farms for late reports or other program requirements if the delay was caused by using this extended signup.