Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 97.djvu/530

 97 STAT. 498 PUBLIC LAW 98-88—AUG. 26, 1983 Land diversion payments. Contract bids. Acreage limitation. Program participation. Program deadlines or other requirements. crop. The individual farm program acreage shall be the actual acreage planted on the farm to extra long staple cotton for harvest within the permitted extra long staple cotton acreage for the farm as established under this paragraph. "(B) The Secretary may make land diversion payments to pro- ducers of extra long staple cotton, whether or not an acreage limitation program for extra long staple cotton is in effect, if the Secretary determines that such land diversion payments are necessary to assist in adjusting the total national acreage of extra long staple cotton to desirable goals. Such land diversion payments shall be made to producers 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 reduced acreage and the 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 purpose 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 rela- tion 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. "(9) An operator of a farm desiring to participate in the program conducted under paragraph (8) of this subsection shall execute an agreement with the Secretary providing for such participation not later than such date as the Secretary may prescribe. The Secretary may, by mutual agreement with the producers on the farm, termi- nate or modify any such agreement if the Secretary determines such action necessary because of an emergency created by drought or other disaster or to prevent or alleviate a shortage in the supply of agricultural commodities. "(10) The Secretary shall provide for the sharing of payments made under this subsection for any farm among the producers on the farm on a fair and equitable basis. "(11) The Secretary shall provide adequate safeguards to protect the interests of tenants and sharecroppers. "(12) If the failure of a producer to comply fully with the terms and conditions of the program formulated under this subsection precludes the making of loans and payments, the Secretary may, nevertheless, make such loans and payments in such amounts as the Secretary determines to be equitable in relation to the seriousness of the failure. The Secretary may authorize the county and State committees established under section 8(b) of the Soil Conservation

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