§8711 Base Acres

Summary

The Secretary must change a farm’s base acres for covered crops when certain things happen. Changes must be made if a conservation reserve contract for the farm ends or was ended or expired during the period beginning on October 1, 2007, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act, or if cropland is released from such a contract (including in that same period). Changes also must be made if the producer has eligible pulse crop acreage or eligible oilseed acreage when the Secretary adds more oilseeds (eligibility for those is determined the same way as under section 7911(a)(2)). In the first crop year a change is made because of a contract ending or release, the farm owner must choose either direct and counter-cyclical payments for the added acreage or a prorated conservation reserve payment — not both. If a farm’s total base acres plus certain other acreage would be more than the farm’s actual cropland, the Secretary must cut back base acres so the total does not exceed the real cropland. The acreage counted includes peanut base acres; land in the conservation reserve or wetlands reserve programs; land in other federal programs paid for not growing crops; eligible pulse acreage; and eligible oilseed acreage if added by the Secretary. The owner gets to pick which crop base acres are reduced. There is an exception for double cropping, and the Secretary must consider section 8752(b). A farm owner may permanently reduce base acres at any time under rules the Secretary sets. If land is subdivided or developed so it likely won’t return to farming, base acres must be cut proportionally unless the producers show it stays in commercial farming or likely will return. The Secretary must set procedures to identify such land and must report each year to Congress on these actions. A producer on a farm with total base acres of 10 acres or less cannot get direct, counter-cyclical, or average crop revenue election payments, except for farms owned by a socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher (see section 2003(e)) or a limited resource farmer or rancher. The Secretary must collect and publish segregated farm data and study fruit and vegetable supply and prices because of suspending base acres. Paragraphs (1) through (3) did not apply during the 2008 crop year.