To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide payments to producers of forage crops for losses due to army worms.

August 3, 2001

Mrs. CARNAHAN (for herself and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide payments to producers of forage crops for losses due to army worms.

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

SECTION 1. COMPENSATION OF PRODUCERS FOR FORAGE LOSSES DUE TO ARMY WORMS.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Agriculture shall use not more than $25,000,000 of funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation to provide payments to producers of forage crops for losses due to army worms.

(b) AMOUNT-

(1) IN GENERAL- The amount of a payment made to a producer under this section shall be equal to 65 percent of the average price received by producers of a forage crop in the crop year (as determined under paragraph (2)) for any deficiency in an established regular cutting greater than 35 percent of the established yield for the cutting, as determined by the Secretary.

(2) AVERAGE PRICE- For the purpose of paragraph (1), the average price received by producers of a forage crop shall be equal to the simple average price received by producers of the crop, as determined by the Secretary, during the immediately preceding 5 crop years, excluding the year in which the average price was the highest and the year in which the average price was the lowest.

(3) ADMINISTRATION- Except as provided in paragraph (1), the amount of a payment made to a producer under this section shall be made in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in section 196 of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7333).

END