§ 1412.302 - Direct payment yield for soybeans and other oilseeds.

(a) The direct payment yield for soybeans and each other oilseed for the farm shall be determined by multiplying the weighted average yield per planted acre for the crop on the farm, as determined in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section, times the ratio resulting from:

(1) The national average yield for the crop for the 1981 through 1985 crop years, as determined by CCC, divided by

(2) The national average yield for the crop for the 1998 through 2001 crop years, as determined by CCC.

(b)(1) The yield per planted acre for soybeans and each other oilseed on the farm, to be used for direct payment purposes, is calculated as follows:

(i) The sum of the production of the crop for the 1998 through 2001 crop years, as determined in accordance with paragraph (b)(2) of this section; divided by

(ii) The sum of the total planted acres of the crop for the 1998 through 2001 crop years.

(2) The production of the crop for each of the 1998 through 2001 crop years shall be the higher of the following, except in a year in which the acreage planted to the crop was zero, in which case the production for the crop for such year shall be zero:

(i) The total production for the applicable year based on the production evidence submitted in accordance with § 1412.304; or

(ii) The amount equal to the product of:

(A) The total planted acres for the crop, times

(B) 75 percent of the harvested average county yield for that crop determined, where practicable, by calculating the weighted 4-year average of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) harvested acreage yields for the crop using the 1998 through 2001 crop years.

(3) The NASS harvested acreage yield to be used in paragraph (b)(2) of this section shall be based on:

(i) NASS harvested irrigated yield for the crop, if available, for producers who irrigated the crop in the applicable years;

(ii) NASS harvested non-irrigated yield for the crop, if available, for producers who did not irrigate the crop in the applicable years; or

(iii) NASS harvested blended yield for all acreage, regardless of whether or not the acres were irrigated or non-irrigated, for all crops in all counties for which the yields in paragraphs (b)(3)(i) and (ii) of this section are unavailable.

(4) If NASS harvested acreage yield data is not available, the Deputy Administrator shall assign a yield to be used in paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(B) of this section.