Bipartisan legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update base acres for all farms, which represent a farm’s specific historical plantings of covered commodities like wheat, corn, and soybeans for the purpose of federal farm program payments.
“It’s been four decades since the last mandatory update and production agriculture has changed drastically since then,” Rep. Johnson said. “Changing global markets, high inflation, and black swan events over the past five years have changed farmers’ inputs and outputs. Updating base acres will help support our farmers.”
The congressman introduced the Balanced Agricultural Support and Efficiency (BASE) Act, H.R. 5551, on Sept. 23 alongside lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), which would amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to require a onetime update of base acres for covered commodities to ensure base acres reflect recent planting history.
“The current base acre allocations do not accurately reflect what’s really being planted across the United States,” said Rep. Budzinski. “This legislation will finally bring fairness back to base acreage for the first time in 40 years, see that farmers are accurately supported for what they grow today, and ensure that we serve as better stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
If enacted, H.R. 5551 would remove “generic base acres,” or outdated provisions, with conforming changes to yield, payment, and coverage calculations, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Johnson’s staff.
The South Dakota Corn Growers Association endorsed H.R. 5551, which has been referred for consideration to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.