Agriculture Protection Act of 1980

Agricultural Protection Act of 1980 - Title I: Food Security Fund - Designates this title as the "Food Security Act of 1980." Declares it to be U.S. policy that: (1) adequate financial resources be placed at the President's disposal to meet urgent humanitarian needs for wheat in foreign nations and comply with international obligations to provide such assistance, within the framework of a market economy; and (2) governmental acquisition and perpetual maintenance of large additional stocks of a wheat reserve solely to provide for emergency food needs in developing countries would depress producer prices, destroy production incentives, disrupt markets, impair U.S. capacity to meet urgent humanitarian and foreign policy objectives, and require the expenditure of large sums of public money for the storage and handling of such wheat. Permits wheat to be acquired through purchases in the U.S. open market in such a manner as the Secretary of Agriculture determines will not unduly disrupt the market. Directs the Secretary to formulate and administer a program of purchasing, on a voluntary basis, wheat under the Agricultural Act of 1949 for donation for specified purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to utilize stocks of wheat acquired by the Commodity Credit Corporation, if such stocks are promptly replaced with wheat held in the producer storage program if such program wheat is not available in amounts and locations sufficient to meet the purposes of this Act. Sets forth such purposes as determined by the President: (1) to provide urgent humanitarian relief in any foreign country which suffers a major disaster as determined by the President and whose needs for relief cannot be satisfied in a timely manner under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954; (2) to assist any developing country to meet its food requirements at any time that the U.S. domestic supply of wheat is so limited that quantities cannot be made available under such Act; and (3) to fulfill any lawful international obligation. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary to make wheat available to eligible foreign nations under such Act. Authorizes the Secretary, upon determination of the President that wheat is needed for such purposes, to: (1) make all necessary arrangements for the purchase and disposition thereof; and (2) pay costs of processing, transportation, handling and other incidental costs to designated points abroad of wheat stocks acquired for such donation. Provides that wheat acquired under this Act: (1) may be processed in the U.S. and shipped in the form of wheat flour when conditions in the recipient country so require; and (2) shall not be subject to any quantitative limitations on export under specified provisions of the Export Administration Act of 1979. Directs the Secretary to utilize specified funds and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation in carrying out this Act. Authorizes the Corporation to be reimbursed for such funds. Title II: Isolation of Embargoed Grain - Directs the Commodity Credit Corporation to purchase and take title to and possession of all grain (as well as soybeans) the export of which to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was blocked by the President in retaliation for the invasion of Afghanistan. Prohibits the Corporation from selling or disposing such grain at a price or for value less than the equivalent of parity, except under specified conditions. Permits the Corporation to sell or dispose of such grain without regard for such restriction in quantities: (1) up to ten percent of the total embargoed amount of a particular commodity, during each market year, whenever the Secretary determines that the carryover at the end of a marketing year will be less than the average carryover for the three immediately preceding marketing years and that the sale or other disposition would not unduly depress the market price; (2) an additional ten percent in any market year if the Secretary determines the market price would not be unduly depressed and reports to the appropriate congressional committees 30 days prior to such disposal; and (3) as necessary to avoid spoilage or deterioration, provided that prompt replacement is made in appropriate cases. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set 125 percent of the then current level of price support for feed grains as the minimum market price which must be reached before certain producer storage program conditions come into effect which are designed to induce producers to redeem and market the feed grains securing loans under such program without regard to the maturity dates thereof. Sets 145 percent of the then current level of price support for feed grains as the minimum market price which must be reached before the Secretary may require producers to repay such loans, plus accrued interest thereon, refund amounts paid for storage, and pay such additional interest and other charges as may be required by regulation. Sets ten percent above such levels at which the Secretary may call for repayment of wheat or feed grains as one of the minimum levels at which the Commodity Credit Corporation must charge for any of its stocks of such commodities. Title III: Land Diversion Programs - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary to establish and announce, not later than March 1, 1980, a land diversion payment program for the 1980 crop of feed grains designed to divert 12,000,000 metric tons from production. Declares eligible for such payments a producer who devotes to approved conservation uses a minimum of ten percent of the cropland acreage planted or which would be planted to the 1980 feed grain crop of such producer. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of such payment. Includes as a factor in such formula, a minimum payment rate for corn of $1.00 per bushel, and a payment rate for all other feed grains which the Secretary determines to be fair and reasonable in relation to the corn rate. Provides for a similar wheat diversion payment program for the 1980 crop of wheat, designed to divert 4,000,000 metric tons from production. Includes as a factor in determining payments under such program a minimum payment rate of $1.25 per bushel of wheat. Provides that, for the 1980 crop of wheat, the minimum payment rate shall be $0.50 per bushel under a special wheat acreage grazing and hay program. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949, effective with respect to the 1979 crop of corn, to authorize the Secretary to make available to any producer, who did not file a timely agreement to participate in the 1979 feed grain set-aside program, loans and purchases up to a total of $100,000 on corn produced in the 1979 crop year on the producer's acreage normally planted to designated crops. Exempts sales of corn for use in the production of alcohol for motor fuel, at facilities that began operation after January 4, 1980, and at prices not less than the prevailing market prices for corn in the normal marketing area of such facilities, from minimum sales price requirements for sales of Commodity Credit Corporation stocks of corn. Amends the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 to direct the Secretary to set price support loan levels for agricultural commodities at 90 percent of the parity price whenever the President or any member of the executive branch suspends export sales to any country or area to which the U.S. otherwise continues commercial trade. Provides that, if such suspension is based on reasons of national security or foreign policy, the loan level may be set at not less than the average market price during the 30 days immediately preceding such suspension. Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to raise the minimum quantities of agricultural commodities required to be distributed: (1) for 1980 to 1,650,000 metric tons; and (2) for 1981 and each fiscal year thereafter to 1,800,000 metric tons. Lowers the minimum portion of such quantities which must be distributed through nonprofit voluntary agencies and the World Food Program for 1982 and each fiscal year thereafter to 1,350,000 metric tons.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 22, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.