H.R. 6849: To amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less, and for other purposes.

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H.R. 6849: To amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less, and for other purposes.

110th Congress · introduced 2008-09-09 · Agriculture and Food · Latest: Became Public Law No: 110-398.

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Official title

To amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less, and for other purposes.

Plain summary

(Sec. 1) Amends the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 with respect to producers, including peanut producers, with 10 or fewer base acres to: (1) suspend a prohibition on direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments for crop year 2008; and (2) extend the 2008 signup deadline for direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments until the later of November 14, 2008, or the end of the 45-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure that no penalty is assessed against producers for failure to submit reports or comply with other program requirements as a result of compliance with the extended signup deadline. Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to reduce FY2011 amounts available for Federal Crop Insurance Corporation information management upgrades. (Sec. 2) Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act, regarding the supplemental revenue assistance program (SURE), to define: (1) "actual production on the farm" as the sum of the value of all crops raised on the farm; and (2) "normal production on the farm" as the sum of the expected revenue for all crops on the farm. Revises the definition of "disaster county" to include any farm in which the actual farm production is less than 50% of normal production. Requires the actual production on a farm for at least one crop of economic significance to be reduced by at least 10% due to disaster, adverse weather, or disaster-related conditions in order to be eligible for crop loss assistance payments. Excludes subsequently planted crops and uninsured crops in calculating the disaster assistance program guarantee. Adds provisions regarding normal and actual farm production. Removes grazing land from SURE. Funds the tree assistance program from the Agricultural Disaster Relief Trust Fund. Sets forth: (1) a de minimis exception to the risk management purchase requirement; (2) a risk management purchase requirement waiver for crop year 2009; and (3) a payment limitation transition rule for crop year 2008. Makes similar amendments to the Trade Act of 1974.

Congressional Research Service summary (Public Law), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Etheridge, Bob [D-NC-2] · 61 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 6849, A bill to amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, countercyclical paymen (2008-09-22); CBO cost estimate: H.R. 6849, A bill to amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, countercyclical paymen (2008-09-22)

Cosponsors on this site

Jerry Moran (R-KS), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), Robert E. Latta (R-OH), Mike Rogers (R-AL), Frank D. Lucas (R-OK), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Sam Graves (R-MO), Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL) and 1 more.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Public Law)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-110hr6849.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/110/hr>

Record fed-us-cong110-hr6849 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong110 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong110