Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 91.djvu/972

 91 STAT. 938

Limitation.

Land diversion payments.

Contracts.

Wildlife habitat.

Payment.

Agreement, "^^"8-

Termination or modification.

PUBLIC LAW 95-113—SEPT. 29, 1977 terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, all or any part of the set-aside acreage to be devoted to sweet sorghum, hay, and grazing or the production of guar, sesame, safflower, sunflower, castor beans, mustard seed, crambe, plantago ovato, flaxseed, triticale, oats, rye, or other commodity, if the Secretary determines that such production is needed to provide an adequate supply, is not likely to increase the cost of the price support program, and will not adversely affect farm income. The Secretary may limit the acreage planted to upland cotton. Such limitation shall be applied on a uniform basis to all cotton-producing farms. Producers on a farm who knowingly plant cotton in excess of the permitted cotton acreage for the farm shall be ineligible for cotton loans or payments with respect to that farm. "(B) The Secretary may make land diversion payments to producers of upland cotton, whether or not a set-aside for upland cotton is in effect, if the Secretary determines that such land diversion payments are necessary to assist in adjusting the total national acreage of upland cotton to desirable goals. Such land diversion payments shall be made to producers on a farm who, to the extent prescribed by the Secretary, devote to approved conservation uses an acreage of cropland on the farm in accordance with land diversion contracts entered into by the Secretary with such producers. The amounts payable to producers under land diversion contracts may be determined through the submission of bids for such contracts by producers in such manner as the Secretary may prescribe or through such other means as the Secretary determines appropriate. In determining the acceptability of contract offers, the Secretary shall take into consideration the extent of the diversion to be undertaken by the producers and the productivity of the acreage diverted. The Secretary shall limit the total acreage to be diverted under agreements in any county or local community so as not to affect adversely the economy of the county or local community. "(C) The set-aside acreage and the additional diverted acreage may be devoted to wildlife food plots or wildlife habitat in conformity with standards established by the Secretary in consultation with wildlife agencies. The Secretary may pay an appropriate share of the cost of practices designed to carry out the purposes of the foregoing sentence. The Secretary may provide for an additional payment on such acreage in an amount determined by the Secretary to be appropriate in relation to the benefit to the general public if the producer agrees to permit, without other compensation, access to all or such portion of the farm, as the Secretary may prescribe, by the general public, for hunting, trapping, fishing, and hiking, subject to applicable State and Federal regulations. "(12) If the Operator of the farm desires to participate in the program formulated under this subsection, the operator shall file an agreement to do so no later than such date as the Secretary ma}^ prescribe. Loans, purchases, and payments under this subsection shall be made available to the producers on such farm only if the producers set aside and devote to approved soil conserving uses an acreage on the farm equal to the number of acres which the operator agrees to set aside and devote to approved soil conserving uses, and the agreement shall S provide. The Secretary may, by mutual agreement with the O producers, terminate or modify any such agreement entered into pursuant to this subsection if the Secretary determines such action necessary because of an emergency created by drought or other disaster, or in order to alleviate a shortage in the supply of agricultural commodities.

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