§8756 Planting Flexibility

Summary

Farmers may plant any crop on peanut base acres, but some crops have limits. Fruits, most vegetables (except mung beans and pulse crops), and wild rice cannot be grown on peanut base acres unless the plants are destroyed before harvest. If those crops come from trees or other perennial plants, they are not allowed at all on peanut base acres. There are three exceptions. If a region has a history of double-cropping peanuts with those crops, double-cropping is allowed. A farm that has previously planted those crops on its peanut base acres may continue, but its government support (direct payments and counter-cyclical payments) will be reduced by one acre for each acre planted. Producers with an established planting history of a specific covered crop may plant up to their average annual acreage from 1991 through 1995 or 1998 through 2001 (ignoring years with no planting), but their payments will also be reduced by one acre for each acre planted.