PRIA Logo™
Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-110

§1359gg Special Rules

Title 7 › CHAPTER 35 — AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1938 › SUBCHAPTER II — LOANS, PARITY PAYMENTS, CONSUMER SAFEGUARDS, MARKETING QUOTAS, AND MARKETING CERTIFICATES › Part B — Marketing Quotas › subpart vii — flexible marketing allotments for sugar › § 1359gg

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows sugarcane acreage base history to be moved from one parcel to another to set up proportionate shares. A farm owner can apply to the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer base history to other land owned by that person, with the written consent of all farm owners. If sugarcane base was changed to nonfarm use on or after May 13, 2002, that base can be moved to other suitable land that can deliver cane to a processor in the same kind of State. When the Secretary learns of such a conversion, affected landowners must be told within 90 days. The original owner then has 90 days to move the base to farms they own. If they cannot, the grower of record is told and given 90 days to move it to farms they operate. If still not moved, the county Farm Service Agency committee puts the base into a pool, asks nearby owners, operators, and growers for requests, and assigns the base by random drawing. Any base left unassigned goes to the State committee for allocation among eligible counties, again by random drawing. Once reassigned, the base stays with the receiving farm and can be moved later under the same rules. If a producer cannot harvest part or all of their proportionate share because of things beyond their control, the Secretary can preserve that farm’s acreage base history for up to 5 consecutive years if the producer applies and all owners agree. The Secretary may allow the share to be used on other farms temporarily, but those farms do not gain permanent acreage base history from the move. After notice, the Secretary may also change marketing allotments or farm proportionate shares the same way they were first set. In proportionate share States, a producer may deliver cane to a different processor if all crop-share owners consent and the new deliveries do not push that processor past its capacity; the Secretary will then adjust each affected processor’s allocation to reflect the acres moved and the grower’s share of the processor’s allocation.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §1359gg

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Transfer of acreage base history
(1)Transfer authorized
For the purpose of establishing proportionate shares for sugarcane farms under section 1359ff(c) of this title, the Secretary, on application of any producer, with the written consent of all owners of a farm, may transfer the acreage base history of the farm to any other parcels of land of the applicant.
(2)Converted acreage base
(A)In general
Sugarcane acreage base established under section 1359ff(c) of this title that has been or is converted to nonagricultural use on or after May 13, 2002, may be transferred to other land suitable for the production of sugarcane that can be delivered to a processor in a proportionate share State in accordance with this paragraph.
(B)Notification
Not later than 90 days after the Secretary becomes aware of a conversion of any sugarcane acreage base to a nonagricultural use, the Secretary shall notify the 1 or more affected landowners of the transferability of the applicable sugarcane acreage base.
(C)Initial transfer period
The owner of the base attributable to the acreage at the time of the conversion shall be afforded 90 days from the date of the receipt of the notification under subparagraph (B) to transfer the base to 1 or more farms owned by the owner.
(D)Grower of record
If a transfer under subparagraph (C) cannot be accomplished during the period specified in that subparagraph, the grower of record with regard to the acreage base on the date on which the acreage was converted to nonagricultural use shall—
(i)be notified; and
(ii)have 90 days from the date of the receipt of the notification to transfer the base to 1 or more farms operated by the grower.
(E)Pool distribution
(i)In general
If transfers under subparagraphs (B) and (C) cannot be accomplished during the periods specified in those subparagraphs, the county committee of the Farm Service Agency for the applicable county shall place the acreage base in a pool for possible assignment to other farms.
(ii)Acceptance of requests
After providing reasonable notice to farm owners, operators, and growers of record in the county, the county committee shall accept requests from owners, operators, and growers of record in the county.
(iii)Assignment
The county committee shall assign the acreage base to other farms in the county that are eligible and capable of accepting the acreage base, based on a random drawing from among the requests received under clause (ii).
(F)Statewide reallocation
(i)In general
Any acreage base remaining unassigned after the transfers and processes described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) shall be made available to the State committee of the Farm Service Agency for allocation among the remaining county committees in the State representing counties with farms eligible for assignment of the base, based on a random drawing.
(ii)Allocation
Any county committee receiving acreage base under this subparagraph shall allocate the acreage base to eligible farms using the process described in subparagraph (E).
(G)Status of reassigned base
After acreage base has been reassigned in accordance with this subparagraph, the acreage base shall—
(i)remain on the farm; and
(ii)be subject to the transfer provisions of paragraph (1).
(b)Preservation of acreage base history
If for reasons beyond the control of a producer on a farm, the producer is unable to harvest an acreage of sugarcane for sugar or seed with respect to all or a portion of the proportionate share established for the farm under section 1359ff(c) of this title, the Secretary, on the application of the producer and with the written consent of all owners of the farm, may preserve for a period of not more than 5 consecutive years the acreage base history of the farm to the extent of the proportionate share involved. The Secretary may permit the proportionate share to be redistributed to other farms, but no acreage base history for purposes of establishing acreage bases shall accrue to the other farms by virtue of the redistribution of the proportionate share.
(c)Revisions of allocations and proportionate shares
The Secretary, after such notice as the Secretary by regulation may prescribe, may revise or amend any allocation of a marketing allotment under section 1359dd of this title, or any proportionate share established or adjusted for a farm under section 1359ff(c) of this title, on the same basis as the initial allocation or proportionate share was required to be established.
(d)Transfers of mill allocations
(1)Transfer authorized
A producer in a proportionate share State, upon written consent from all affected crop-share owners (or the representative of the affected crop-share owners) of a farm may deliver sugarcane to another processing company if the additional delivery, when combined with such other processing company’s existing deliveries, does not exceed the processing capacity of the company.
(2)Allocation adjustment
Notwithstanding section 1359dd of this title, the Secretary shall adjust the allocations of each of such processing companies affected by a transfer under paragraph (1) to reflect the change in deliveries, based on—
(A)the number of acres of sugarcane base being transferred; and
(B)the pro rata amount of allocation at the processing company holding the applicable allocation that equals the contribution of the grower to allocation of the processing company for the sugarcane acreage base being transferred.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical

Amendments

to this section. The

Amendments

by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 1359gg, act Feb. 16, 1938, ch. 30, title III, § 359g, as added Pub. L. 101–624, title IX, § 902, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3486; amended Pub. L. 102–237, title I, § 111(i), Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1835, related to special rules, prior to the general amendment of this subpart by Pub. L. 107–171.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 110–246, § 1403(g)(1), added subsec. (a) and struck out former subsec. (a). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “For the purpose of establishing proportionate shares for sugarcane farms under section 1359ff(c) of this title, the Secretary, on application of any producer, with the written consent of all owners of a farm, may transfer the acreage base history of the farm to any other parcels of land of the applicant.” Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 110–246, § 1403(g)(2)(A), inserted “affected” before “crop-share owners” in two places and struck out “, and from the processing company holding the applicable allocation for such shares,” before “may deliver”. Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 110–246, § 1403(g)(2)(B), struck out “the product of” after “based on” in introductory provisions, added subpars. (A) and (B), and struck out former subpars. (A) and (B) which read as follows: “(A) the number of acres of proportionate shares being transferred; and “(B) the State’s per acre yield goal established under section 1359ff(c)(3) of this title.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2008 AmendmentAmendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 8701 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 1359gg

Title 7, Agriculture

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110