Title 7 › Chapter 106— COMMODITY PROGRAMS › Subchapter I— DIRECT PAYMENTS AND COUNTER-CYCLICAL PAYMENTS › § 7912
The Secretary must set a payment yield for each farm and each covered commodity. These yields are used to figure direct payments and counter-cyclical payments for the 2002 through 2007 crops. Usually the yield is the farm’s 1995 program payment yield, adjusted for any extra payments made then. If a 1995 yield isn’t available (except for soybeans and other oilseeds), the Secretary will pick a suitable yield based on similar farms. For soybeans and other oilseeds, the yield is the farm’s average planted yield for 1998–2001 (skip years with zero acres) multiplied by the national ratio of 1981–85 average yield to 1998–2001 average yield. Any 1998–2001 year with a farm yield below 75% of the county yield is treated as 75% of the county when making averages. A farm owner who uses the base acres method gets one chance to update yields for counter-cyclical payments. The choice is made at the same time and in the same way as the base acres election. The owner can pick either: (A) the direct-payment yield plus 70% of the difference between the 1998–2001 average and the direct-payment yield; or (B) 93.5% of the 1998–2001 average. The 75% county-floor rule applies to these averages. The owner can’t use method A for some commodities and method B for others on the same farm.
Full Legal Text
Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
7 U.S.C. § 7912
Title 7 — Agriculture
Last Updated
Apr 3, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60