To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency assistance to apple producers and onion producers in the State of New York who incurred extensive crop losses in 1998. (Introduced in the House)

HR 2237 IH

106th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2237

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency assistance to apple producers and onion producers in the State of New York who incurred extensive crop losses in 1998.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 16, 1999

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. WALSH, Mr. MCHUGH, and Mrs. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency assistance to apple producers and onion producers in the State of New York who incurred extensive crop losses in 1998.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. EMERGENCY CROP LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR NEW YORK APPLE PRODUCERS.

(a) ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED- In addition to other authorities available to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to apple producers who incur crop losses, the Secretary may provide assistance under this section to apple producers in the State of New York who incurred losses in 1998 to apple crops due to damaging weather or related conditions.

(b) SPECIAL RULES- In providing assistance to apple producers under this section, the Secretary shall calculate the amount of a apple producer's payment in a manner that--

(1) does not discount excess juice production;

(2) allows producers in 1998 to use their historical production as a yield basis;

(3) ensures that losses in each marketing category (primary, secondary, and tertiary) are only added together, and not subtracted as currently proposed by the Department of Agriculture; and

(4) uses the 5-year average market price for apples in New York as established by the National Agriculture Statistics Service.

(c) MAXIMUM PAYMENT LIMITATION- In providing assistance to apple producers under this section, the maximum payment limitation per farm shall be equal to the higher of--

(1) $80,000; or

(2) the product of $1,350 and the total farm orchard acreage.

(d) IMPLEMENTATION- The Secretary shall issue guidelines for the provision of assistance under this section, which shall be available to affected apple producers not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. Subject to the availability of funds for this purpose, the Secretary shall make payments available under this section in an expeditious time frame in order to alleviate the severe financial strain of New York State apple producers.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY CROP LOSS ASSISTANCE FOR NEW YORK ONION PRODUCERS.

(a) ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED- In addition to other authorities available to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to onion producers who incur crop losses, the Secretary may provide assistance under this section to onion producers in the State of New York who incurred losses in 1998 to onion crops due to damaging weather or related conditions.

(b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS- To be eligible for assistance under this section, the Secretary must conclude that, because of damaging weather or related condition in 1998, the total quantity of the 1998 onion crop that a New York onion producer was able to harvest was less than 65 percent of the producer's historical yield. The Secretary may accept information provided by insurance adjustors or the Cooperative Extension Service to verify a producer's loss in yield.

(1) PAYMENT FORMULA- In providing assistance to an eligible onion producer under this section, the per acre amount of the producer's payment shall be equal to the product of--

(A) .65;

(B) the applicable annual percentage history; and

(2) ANNUAL PERCENTAGE HISTORY- For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), a producer may select as the producer's annual percentage history either the producer's own historical yield before 1996, per hundredweight, or the New York State average of 298 cwt.

(3) PAYMENT RATE- For purposes of paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary shall use the 5-year average market price for yellow onions of $15.00 cwt.

(d) IMPLEMENTATION- The Secretary shall issue guidelines for the provision of assistance under this section, which shall be available to affected onion producers not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. Subject to the availability of funds for this purpose, the Secretary shall make payments available under this section in an expeditious time frame in order to alleviate the severe financial strain of New York State onion producers.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There is authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 to carry out this Act.