HR 2704 IH

To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to restore and improve the farmer owned reserve program, to extend the term of marketing assistance loans made under the Agricultural Market Transition Act, and for other purposes.

To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949 to restore and improve the farmer owned reserve program, to extend the term of marketing assistance loans made under the Agricultural Market Transition Act, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Farmer Owned Reserve Restoration Act of 1999'.

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I--FARMER OWNER RESERVE PROGRAM

Sec. 101. Restoration of farmer owner reserve program.

Sec. 102. Covered commodities.

Sec. 103. Interest charges.

Sec. 104. Storage payments.

Sec. 105. Quantity of commodities in program.

Sec. 106. Announcement of program.

Sec. 107. Withdrawal of commodities.

TITLE II--OTHER PROVISIONS

Sec. 201. Term of marketing assistance loans.

Sec. 202. Farm storage facility loans.

SEC. 101. RESTORATION OF FARMER OWNER RESERVE PROGRAM.

(a) REPEAL OF CURRENT SUSPENSION OF PROGRAM- Section 171(b)(1) of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7301(b)(1)) is amended--

(1) by striking subparagraph (E); and

(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) through (L) as subparagraphs (E) through (K), respectively.

(b) RESUMPTION OF PROGRAM- Subsection (p) of section 110 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e) is amended to read as follows:

`(p) RESUMPTION OF PROGRAM- This section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of the Farmer Owned Reserve Restoration Act of 1999.'.

(c) RELATION TO CURRENT COMMODITY LOAN PROGRAM- Section 110(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e(b)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking `9-month price support'; and

(2) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking `this title' both places it appears and inserting `subtitle C of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7231 et seq.)'.

SEC. 102. COVERED COMMODITIES.

(a) INCLUSION OF OILSEEDS- Subsection (a) of section 110 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e) is amended--

(1) by striking `wheat and feed grains' both places it appears and inserting `covered commodities'; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new sentence: `In this section, the term `covered commodity' means wheat, a feed grain, or an oilseed (as defined in section 102 of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7202).'.

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS- Such section is further amended--

(1) in subsection (b)--

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking `wheat and feed grains' and inserting `covered commodities'; and

(B) in paragraph (2), by striking `under the wheat and feed grain programs' and inserting `for the covered commodity';

(2) in subsection (c), by striking `wheat or feed grains' both places it appears and inserting `the covered commodity';

(3) in subsection (d)(1), by striking `wheat or feed grains' and inserting `a covered commodity';

(4) in subsection (f), by striking `wheat and feed grains' and inserting `covered commodities'; and

(5) in subsection (g)--

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking `wheat and feed grains' and inserting `a covered commodity';

(B) in paragraph (2)--

(i) by striking `wheat or feed grains' in the matter before the subparagraphs and inserting `a covered commodity'; and

(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking `wheat or corn' both places it appears and inserting `wheat, corn, or oilseeds';

(C) in paragraph (3)--

(i) by striking `wheat or feed grains' the first place it appears and inserting `a covered commodity'; and

(ii) by striking `wheat or feed grains, respectively' and inserting `that covered commodity'; and

(D) in paragraph (4), by striking `wheat or feed grains' and inserting `covered commodities'.

SEC. 103. INTEREST CHARGES.

Section 110(c) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e(c)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking `105 percent of the then current established price for the commodity' and inserting `150 percent of the loan rate for the commodity under this section'; and

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking `105 percent of the established price for the commodities' and inserting `150 percent of the loan rate for the commodity under this section'.

SEC. 104. STORAGE PAYMENTS.

Section 110(d) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e(d)) is amended by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and inserting the following:

`(2) TIMING- The Secretary shall make storage payments available to participants in this program--

`(A) at the end of each quarter; or

`(B) at the option of the Secretary, not more than 1 year in advance of the date the payments would otherwise be payable under subparagraph (A).

`(3) DURATION- The Secretary shall cease making storage payments for a covered commodity whenever the price of the commodity is equal to or exceeds 140 percent of loan rate for the commodity under this section, and for any 90-day period immediately following the last day on which the price of the commodity was equal to or in excess of 140 percent of the loan rate for the commodity under this section.'.

SEC. 105. QUANTITY OF COMMODITIES IN PROGRAM.

Section 110(f) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e(f)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking `less than 300 million bushels, nor more than 450 million bushels' and inserting `more than 500,000,000 bushels';

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking `less than 600 million bushels, nor more than 900 million bushels' and inserting `more than 1,000,000,000 bushels'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(3) The maximum quantities of all oilseeds may not be established at more than 500,000,000 bushels.'.

SEC. 106. ANNOUNCEMENT OF PROGRAM.

Section 110(g) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e(g)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)--

(A) by striking `and' at the end of subparagraph (A);

(B) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting `; and'; and

(C) by inserting at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(C) in the case of oilseeds, such date as the Secretary considers to be appropriate.'; and

(2) in paragraph (2)--

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting `or established pursuant to' after `specified in'; and

(B) in subparagraph (B)--

(i) in the matter before the clauses, by inserting `or established pursuant to' after `specified in';

(ii) by striking `and' at the end of clause (i);

(iii) by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) and inserting `; and'; and

(iv) by inserting at the end the following new clause:

`(iii) in the case of oilseeds, more than 17.5 percent.';

SEC. 107. WITHDRAWAL OF COMMODITIES.

Subsection (h) of section 110 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445e) is amended to read as follows:

`(h) WITHDRAWAL OF COVERED COMMODITIES- In the case of a producer that has a covered commodity stored under this section, if the price of the covered commodity is--

`(1) less than 140 percent of the loan rate for that covered commodity under this section, the producer may--

`(A) withdraw the commodity from storage and repay any loan made for the commodity under this section; or

`(B) continue to store the commodity under this section and receive storage payments for the commodity under subsection (d);

`(2) at least 140 percent, but less than 150 percent, of the loan rate for that covered commodity under this section, the producer may continue to store the commodity under this section, but shall not be eligible for storage payments for the commodity under subsection (d); or

`(3) 150 percent or more of the loan rate for that covered commodity under this section, the producer shall withdraw the commodity from storage under this section and repay any loan made for the commodity under this section.'.

SEC. 201. TERM OF MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS.

Section 133(a) of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7233(a)) is amended by striking `9 months' and inserting `21 months'.

SEC. 202. FARM STORAGE FACILITY LOANS.

(a) LOANS FOR CONSTRUCTION OR REMODELING- To encourage the storage of dry or high moisture grain, soybeans, and rice, and high moisture forage and silage on farms, where the commodities can be stored at the lowest cost, the Commodity Credit Corporation shall make secured storage facility loans not to exceed $50,000 to growers of such commodities to cover not less than 75 percent of the total construction cost of such a facility, including the cost of structural and equipment foundations, electrical systems, grain handling systems, drying equipment, and site preparation. The Corporation may also make loans in such amounts not to exceed $50,000 to cover remodeling costs of existing storage facilities, as are set forth in regulations issued by the Secretary of Agriculture.

(b) FACILITY SIZE- The size of such a facility for which a loan is obtained shall be based upon the amount of space required to store the quantity of the commodity estimated to be produced by the borrower during a two-year period.

(c) LOAN PERIOD- Loans under this section shall be for a period not to exceed 10 years at an interest rate based upon the rate of interest charged the Corporation by the United States Treasury.