§8755 Producer agreement required as condition on provision of payments

Summary

Producers must agree to rules before they can get direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments for a farm. They must follow conservation rules, wetland protection rules, and planting-flexibility rules. They must use the land equal to the farm’s base acres (including peanut base acres) for farming or conservation, not for nonagricultural commercial, industrial, or residential use. If some of that land is left uncultivated, they must control noxious weeds and keep the land in good farming condition. The Secretary may make rules to enforce these things and can change the rules for an owner or transferee if the change fits the same goals. If a producer transfers or changes their interest in base acres used for payments, payments stop unless the new owner agrees to take the same obligations; the Secretary sets when the stop takes effect. If a producer dies or cannot get the payment, the Secretary can pay under rules. Producers must file yearly acreage reports; they won’t be punished for mistakes unless they knowingly lied. The Secretary must protect tenants and sharecroppers and make payments share fairly. For the 2008 crop year, farms with 10 acres or less had their signup deadline extended to the later of November 14, 2008, or the end of the 45-day period starting October 13, 2008, and those producers face no penalties for delays caused by that extension.