A bill to require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide payments to cattle producers to offset losses due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3552 To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide payments to cattle pro- ducers to offset losses due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID– 19), and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 20, 2020 Mr. ROUNDS (for himself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. FISCHER, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide payments to cattle producers to offset losses due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19), and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. CATTLE PRODUCER PAYMENTS TO OFFSET 3 LOSSES DUE TO COVID–19. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, act- 5 ing through the Administrator of the Farm Service Agen- 6 cy (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall 7 make payments to producers that sold feeder cattle or live 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Apr 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3552.IS S3552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3552 IS cattle during any month in calendar year 2020 if the Sec- 1 retary determines that— 2 (1) in the case of feeder cattle, the average na- 3 tional sale price per hundredweight for feeder cattle 4 for that month is less than $150; and 5 (2) in the case of live cattle, the average na- 6 tional sale price per hundredweight for live cattle for 7 that month is less than $121. 8 (b) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The amount of a payment 9 provided under subsection (a) shall be equal to— 10 (1) in the case of feeder cattle, the product ob- 11 tained by multiplying— 12 (A) the difference between— 13 (i) $150; and 14 (ii) the average national sale price per 15 hundredweight for feeder cattle for the ap- 16 plicable month; and 17 (B) the quantity of feeder cattle sold by 18 the applicable producer during the applicable 19 month, expressed in hundredweight; and 20 (2) in the case of live cattle, the product ob- 21 tained by multiplying— 22 (A) the difference between— 23 (i) $121; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Apr 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3552.IS S3552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3552 IS (ii) the average national sale price per 1 hundredweight for live cattle for the appli- 2 cable month; and 3 (B) the quantity of live cattle sold by the 4 applicable producer during the applicable 5 month, expressed in hundredweight. 6 (c) LIMITATIONS.— 7 (1) PAYMENT LIMITATION.—A producer may 8 receive payments under subsection (a) for not more 9 than 10,000 head of cattle in calendar year 2020. 10 (2) OWNERSHIP REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible 11 to receive a payment under subsection (a), a pro- 12 ducer shall have owned the cattle described in that 13 subsection for not less than 30 days before the date 14 on which the cattle were sold. 15 (d) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity Cred- 16 it Corporation, the Secretary shall use such sums as are 17 necessary to carry out this section. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Apr 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3552.IS S3552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS