§ 1412.48 - Planting Transferability Pilot Project.

(a) Notwithstanding §1412.47, for each of the 2009 and subsequent crop years, the Planting Transferability Pilot Project (Project) will permit, in accordance with the limitations and provisions of this section only, the planting of certain crops in certain States on base acres without violating the DCP or ACRE contract. Base acres on farms participating in the Project will be reduced an acre (or portion thereof) for every acre (or portion thereof) planted in the Project, for the year in which the farm is participating in the Project.

(b) Producers interested in participating in the Project must first be enrolled in either a DCP or ACRE program contract and submit an offer for participation in the Project accompanied by a copy of the contract mentioned in paragraph (f) of this section no later than March 1 of the fiscal year in which participation in the Project is desired. At the conclusion of the signup period, CCC will determine if it received more offers than the acreage limitation paragraph (e) of this section allows. If the offers exceed the acreage limitation in the State, CCC will conduct a lottery style selection process and approve offers for participation in the Project that will ensure that the number of base acres eligible for each year under the Project are not exceeded. In the event that CCC cannot approve an offer in its entirety, at CCC's discretion, CCC may give the producers the opportunity to enroll less acres in the Project. CCC will also notify producers of the results of the selection process. Under no circumstances can producers challenge either the selection process itself or the results via administrative appeal. Producers in each of the States mentioned in this section can elect to participate in the Project with their offer as accepted by CCC, or, if CCC elects to offer approval of part of an offer, participate with their offer as reduced by CCC, or the producers can elect not to participate in the Project.

(c) Signup for the Project will be conducted as announced by the Deputy Administrator.

(d) Under the Project, crops permitted on DCP base acres are cucumbers, green peas, lima beans, pumpkins, snap beans, sweet corn, and tomatoes. These crops eligible for participation in this Project must be grown for processing.

(e) The States and the number of base acres eligible during each crop year for the Project under paragraph (a) of this section are:

(i) 9,000 acres in Illinois,

(ii) 9,000 acres in Indiana,

(iii) 1,000 acres in Iowa,

(iv) 9,000 acres in Michigan,

(v) 34,000 acres in Minnesota,

(vi) 4,000 acres in Ohio, and

(vii) 9,000 acres in Wisconsin.

(f) To be eligible to participate in the Project, producers on a farm must do all of the following for the commodity specified in paragraph (d) of this section:

(i) Enter into a contract to produce the commodity for processing;

(ii) Agree to produce the crop as part of a program of crop rotation on the farm to achieve agronomic and pest and disease management benefits;

(iii) Report acreage and production of the crop according to §1412.66 and provide evidence of disposition of the crop; and

(iv) File a notice of loss according to §1412.67, if the crop is either prevented from being planted or is impacted by disaster after planting.

(g) If base acres are recalculated while a farm is participating in this Project, the planting and production of a crop of a commodity specified in paragraph (d) of this section on base acres for which a temporary reduction was made under this section will be considered to be the same as the planting and production of the covered commodity or peanuts that was reduced.

(h) Reports will be prepared for Congress to periodically evaluate the supply and price of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables and evaluate if producers of fresh fruits and vegetables are being negatively impacted or existing production capacities are being supplanted.

(i) If DCP payments were issued prior to enrollment in this Project, the participants acknowledge that for the particular year of participation in the Project according to this section, DCP payments will be based on temporarily reduced base acres.

(j) In the event an ACRE program contract was approved either before or after enrollment in this Project according to this section, the ACRE program contract participants acknowledge that for the particular year of participation in the Project according to this section, ACRE payments will be based on the temporarily reduced base acres.