Balanced Agricultural Support and Efficiency Act
H.R. 5551, the Balanced Agricultural Support and Efficiency Act, would enact a one-time, mandatory update of base acres for covered commodities under the Agricultural Act of 2014. The update would occur for the 2025 crop year and would recalculate each farm’s base acres for covered commodities using the farm’s planting history from 2020–2024. The calculation uses a 5-year average approach that weighs the acreage actually planted (and acres prevented from planting due to drought, flood, or other qualifying events) for each covered commodity, relative to the farm’s 5-year average for all covered commodities. The bill also establishes an election option if multiple covered commodities were planted on the same land in a given year (the landowner may choose which commodity to use for the calculation, but cannot count both). In addition, the bill removes references to “generic base acres” and aligns related program provisions (such as payment yields, payment acres, and price loss coverage) with base-acre updates. It also provides for potential adjustments if certain circumstances occur and makes related conforming amendments. In short, the bill aims to modernize base-acre figures to reflect recent planting history, with a specific, one-time recalibration for 2025, and to streamline base-acre concepts across related farm programs.
Key Points
- 1One-time mandatory base-acre update for 2025 crop year: The Secretary must update base acres for covered commodities on a farm using the farm’s 2020–2024 planting data, implemented as soon as practicable after enactment.
- 25-year average methodology for each farm: Updated base acres for each covered commodity are determined by the proportion of a 5-year average of acres planted (plus acres prevented from planting due to disaster or other conditions) to the 5-year average of total acres planted to all covered commodities.
- 3Inclusion of all years in the average: If a covered commodity was not planted in a given year, that year is still included in the 5-year average.
- 4Handling of multiple plantings or prevented planting in a year: If a year’s acreage was used for more than one covered commodity, or shifted between commodities, the farm owner may elect which commodity to count for the 5-year average, but may not count both.
- 5Removal of generic base acres and conforming amendments: The bill removes references to generic base acres and makes corresponding changes to payment yields (Section 1113), payment acres (Section 1114), and price loss coverage (Section 1116) to reflect base-acre updates and remove generic-acre concepts.
- 6Administrative adjustment authority: The Secretary would have the ability to adjust base acres for covered commodities in response to specified circumstances (the text references a list of circumstances, though the list is not included in the provided excerpt).
- 7Broad purpose: The changes are designed to ensure base acres align with recent planting history and to simplify base-acre designations by focusing on covered commodities, potentially affecting program payments tied to base acres.