§ 718.18 Report of acreage obtained by farm visit.

(a) Farm visit. A report of acreage shall be obtained by a reporter or other authorized employee of the Department by making a farm visit if entry upon the farm will facilitate measurement or ascertainment of acreage of a crop or land use for which a report is required. The report of acreage shall be made on a prescribed form which shall not be considered complete unless signed by the farm operator or a representative of the farm operator. The reporter shall present a written authorization from the county office manager authorizing the reporter to obtain measurements and other compliance data for the farm if requested to do so by any producer interested in the farm. The farm operator, a representative of the farm operator, or a producer on the farm shall assist the reporter by designating all fields and crops on the farm for which inspection or measurement is required and by furnishing names of all producers having an interest in the farm. The method of obtaining a report of acreage by farm visit under this section shall not be used in cases where report of acreage is obtained pursuant to § 718.19, § 718.20, or § 718.21.

(b) Refusal to permit measurement. If a farm operator refuses to permit acreage measurements for any crop or program for which such measurements are required, the county office manager shall notify the farm operator in writing as soon as possible of the following consequences, as applicable, of the refusal to permit measurement and inspection on the farm:

(1) Program benefits will be denied.

(2) For cotton and rice, buyers in the vicinity will be notified that the farm is considered to be in excess of the allotment.

(3) For peanuts and tobacco (except flue-cured tobacco when acreage-poundage quotas are in effect), a 100-percent excess penalty card will be issued.

(4) For flue-cured tobacco when acreage-poundage quotas are in effect, no marketing card showing the farm is eligible for price support will be issued, and

(5) The farm operator shall have 14 days from the date of the written notice to notify the county office that he will permit measurement and pay the cost thereof.

If the farm operator continues to refuse to permit a farm visit after the 14-day

period prescribed in the written notice to him, any case involving a crop subject to a marketing quota (except fluecured tobacco) shall be submitted by the county office to the State committee for referral to the applicable field representative of the Office of the General Counsel.

(c) Refusal to furnish information concerning other interested persons on the farm. If a farm operator refuses to furnish information concerning other interested persons on the farm, the farm operator may be denied program benefits until such information is furnished to the county committee.

§ 718.19

Report of acreage obtained from farm operator.

A report of acreage and land use shall be furnished by the farm operator on a prescribed form signed by the farm operator which may be accepted by the county committee in lieu of a farm visit report in the following cases:

(a) The farm operator certifies that an acreage of cotton, rice, peanuts, and tobacco has not been planted on the farm, or that none of the peanuts planted on the farm will be dug;

(b) The farm operator reports the acreage of wheat on a farm not participating in the wheat program;

(c) The farm operator on a conservation reserve farm certifies (1) that no soil bank base crops have been or will be planted on the farm during the current year, or an acreage of soil bank base crops has been or will be planted on the farm during the current year but the soil bank base established for the farm is equal to the total land in the farm, and (2) that no soil bank base crops planted or to be planted are or will be located on the designated reserve area on the farm;

(d) Where a "whole farm" conservation reserve contract is in effect for the farm, the certification by the farm operator in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section may be considered by the county committee as meeting the requirements under paragraph (a) of this section; and

(e) Where the farm operator reports all of the areas devoted to a crop or land use for the farm and official acreages have been established or a staking and referencing service has been performed in the current year for each area devoted to the crop or land use.

§ 718.20 Report of acreage obtained from rice or sugar company.

Acreage measurements made by the company furnishing water for the production of rice on the farm, or by the company contracting to process the sugarcane or sugar beets produced on the farm may be accepted by the county committee in lieu of the farm visit report under § 718.18 subject to the following conditions:

(a) Substantially all the rice or sugar acreage in the county will be determined by the companies;

(b) No conservation reserve contract is in effect for the farm;

(c) In the case of rice, the company does not share in the crop; and

(d) Visits are made by the reporter to a representative number of farms to determine the acceptability of the measurements of each company representative who furnishes crop acreages to the county committee. If, as a result of the farm visits, the county committee determines that measurements of a company representative are not acceptable, no reports based on measurements by such representative shall be accepted and a reporter shall redetermine the acreage of the crop on all farms measured by such representative.

§ 718.21 Reports of acreage in certification counties.

(a) Certification by farm operator. A report of acreage and land use on farms in certification counties shall be furnished to the county committee by the farm operator on a prescribed form for wheat, feed grain, cotton, peanuts, rice, flue-cured tobacco, sugar crops (when proportionate shares are in effect), and acreage diverted under the feed grain and cotton programs.

(b) Final dates for filing certifications. The certification by farm operator shall be filed on or before the following dates:

(1) For crops other than peanuts and sugar crops. The disposition date for the crop.

(2) For peanuts. As provided in § 718.30.

(3) For sugar crops—(i) Initial certification for sugar beets. A date not later than 30 days after normal completion of planting or such later date approved by the State committee.

(ii) Initial certification for sugarcane.

A date not later than 45 days prior to the earliest harvest date or such earlier date approved by the State committee.

(iii) Final certification for sugar beets and sugarcane. If the sugar crop acreage initially certified exceeded the farm proportionate share and the farm operator adjusts the acreage, the farm operator shall notify the county office of his intention to adjust not later than 15 days prior to start of harvest of the crop. Upon completion of the acreage adjustment, or completion of harvest of an acreage within the farm proportionate share, whichever is earlier, the farm operator shall report such completion to the county office. Where the excess acreage is disposed of prior to harvest, the farm operator shall file the report after completion of acreage adjustment and prior to start of harvest. Where the excess acreage will be disposed of after harvest, the farm operator shall file the report after completion of harvest but prior to disposition of any of the crop.

(4) For an acreage diverted from feed grain or cotton. As provided in § 718.29.

(c) Consequences of failure to file a timely certification—(1) General. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, the producers on the farm shall be deemed ineligible for any benefits under the program for which the certification was not timely filed.

(2) Additional consequences for allotment crops. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section and subdivision (iii) of this subparagraph, the acreage of an allotment crop for which the farm operator failed to file a certification shall be considered to be zero for purposes of establishing future allotments. In addition:

(i) For cotton and rice, buyers of the crop in the area shall be notified that the farm is considered in excess of the farm marketing quota; and

(ii) For peanuts, a 100-percent excess penalty card shall be issued.

(iii) If the farm operator fails to file the certification under this section but requests the county committee to measure the crop and pays the cost thereof, the county committee shall measure the acreage if it is possible to accurately measure the acreage within 15 days after such request. In such case, the measured acreage shall be used to determine whether a marketing quota penalty is applicable and the amount of any such penalty, the appropriate action to be

taken with respect to collection of penalties or issuance of marketing cards, and whether producers on the farm shall be eligible for any benefits under the program for which the certification was not timely filed.

(d) Late filed certification. The county committee may accept a certification under this section after the final date if it determines that the farm operator was prevented from timely filing because of reasons beyond his control.

(e) Acreage adjustment limitation. Acreage for which a certification under this section is accepted by the county committee shall not be subject to acreage adjustment under § 718.26 except that:

(1) Adjustment of sugar crop acreages shall be in accordance with the provisions of Parts 850 and 855 of this chapter;

(2) Additional eligible land may be designated as diverted acreage to adjust a deficiency of diverted acreage as determined by measurement but disposition of a crop to make the acreage eligible as diverted acreage shall not be permitted; and

(3) Disposition and reclassification of wheat or feed grains within the farm permitted acreage in accordance with applicable wheat and feed grain regulations shall be permitted except as provided in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph.

(f) Farms considered in compliance for price support programs. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a producer of a crop specified in subparagraph (1), (2), or (3) of this paragraph (f) on a farm for which a certification under this section is furnished and for which acreages are subsequently measured shall be presumed not to have knowingly exceeded the farm acreage allotment for the crop for purposes of price support programs (but the farm shall not be ccnsidered in compliance with the allotment for the crop for purposes of determining any marketing quota penalty) if the acreage of the crop on the farm determined by measurement does not exceed the allotment by more than the amount set forth in the appropriate subparagraph (1), (2), or (3) of this paragraph (f). In any case in which the acreage determined by measurement exIceeds the allotment by more than the amount set forth in the appropriate subparagraph (1), (2), or (3), the allotment shall be considered to have been

knowingly exceeded: Provided, That the allotment shall not be considered to have been knowingly exceeded for price support purposes (but the farm shall not be considered in compliance for purposes of determining any marketing quota penalty) if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Deputy Administrator that the farm operator did not knowingly exceed the farm acreage allotment.

(1) For peanuts on farms with an effective allotment of more than 1 acre. The larger of 0.5 acre or 5 percent of the allotment, not to exceed 10 acres.

(2) Rice and extra long staple (ELS) cotton. The larger of 0.5 acre or 5 percent of the allotment, not to exceed 15 acres.

(3) Flue-cured tobacco. The larger of 0.1 acre or 10 percent of the allotment, not to exceed 2 acres.

(g) Overstatement of crop acreage under certification. (1) If the farm operator files a certification of acreage for the wheat, feed grain, or upland cotton program which certifies an acreage on the farm in excess of the actual acreage planted to the crop, the operator may be considered to have made a good faith effort to file an accurate certification of crop acreage, provided the acreage so certified does not exceed the measured acreage by more than the larger of 2 acres or 10 percent of such certified acreage.

(2) If the crop acreage certified by the farm operator exceeds the actual crop acreage by more than the larger of 2 acres or 10 percent of the reported acreage, and such overstated acreage would have resulted in an overpayment of marketing certificate or price support payment to producers on the farm, no marketing certificate or price support payment shall be made for the farm. Notwithstanding the above provisions of this subparagraph (2), the Deputy Administrator may nevertheless authorize the making of marketing certificate or price support payment in cases where the operator overstated the crop acreage on the farm by more than the tolerance authorized under subparagraph (1) of this paragraph, in such amounts as he determines to be equitable, provided the operator has acted in good faith in certifying the crop acreage.

(Secs. 4, 5, 62 Stat. 1070, as amended; sec. 408, 63 Stat. 1051, as amended; 15 U.S.C. 714 b and c; 7 U.S.C. 1428) [32 F.R. 9069, June 27, 1967, as amended by Amdt. 3, 33 F.R. 8723, June 14, 1968; Amdt. 4, 33 F.R. 15857, Oct. 26, 1968]

§ 718.22

Notice to farm operator.

(a) Written notice. The county committee shall furnish written notice to the farm operator of acreages determined for the farm. Such notice shall be on a prescribed form and shall constitute notice to all producers on the farm. (b) Erroneous notice of acreage. Where an erroneous notice of acreage is issued by the county committee for a farm determined to be out of compliance for marketing quota, price support, or other program purposes, the farm nevertheless shall be deemed to be in compliance with the allotment for marketing quota and price support purposes and not in violation of the conservation reserve contract (unless the crop involved in the excess is located on the conservation reserve area) if the county committee, upon approval of the State committee, determines that lack of compliance was caused by all of the following:

(1) Reliance in good faith by the farm operator on the erroneous notice of acreage,

(2) The erroneous notice was the result of an error made by an employee of the county or State office in reporting, computing, or recording an acreage for the farm,

(3) Neither the farm operator nor any producer on the farm was in any way responsible for the error, and

(4) The extent of the error was such that the farm operator would not reasonably be expected to question the acreage of which he was erroneously notified.

(c) Erroneous notice of excess acreage. If the erroneous notice of acreage shows excess acreage which is not adjusted in accordance with § 718.26 the farm shall not be deemed to be in compliance. However, if the four conditions listed in paragraph (b) of this section are found to be met with respect to additional excess acreage not shown on the notice, the acreage shown on the notice shall be used for program purposes.

(d) Failure to measure or notify farm operator. This paragraph shall not apply to tobacco, peanuts, crops for which acreages were obtained from a rice or sugar company, or for crops certified by the farm operator in certification counties. A farm shall be deemed to be in compliance with the program (and for cotton and rice not in excess for market

ing quota purposes) in any case where it is determined by the county committee, upon approval by the State committee, that:

(1) Through no fault of the farm operator or any producer on the farm, the crop acreage was not measured, or the farm operator was not notified of the measured acreage in time to adjust the planted acreage, and

(2) The excess acreage was relatively small and the farm operator establishes that, because of the relative smallness of the excess and the unavailability to him of any recent measurements of the field acreages on the farm, he had no reason to believe the farm was not in compliance. In such cases, wheat certificates and price support payments for cotton and feed grain shall be computed on the basis of the crop acreage which would have existed if the farm had been in actual compliance with the program. Diversion payments for feed grain and cotton shall be computed on the basis of the actual underplanted crop acreage based on the measured acreage.

§ 718.23 Spot checks.

(a) After measurement. The county committee, State committee, or the Deputy Administrator may at any time require a farm visit to spot check the acceptability of the work performed by any reporter. The person authorized to make the spot check shall present his written authorization upon request of any producer interested in the farm.

(b) Visits to selected farms. Where reports of acreage in lieu of farm visits are accepted, farm visits to selected farms shall be made to verify the accuracy of the reports.

(c) Certification counties. A representative number of farms for which certifications of acreage in lieu of farm visits are accepted shall be visited and the crop or land use acreage shall be measured.

(d) Use of measured acreage. The acreage of a crop or land use measured under this section shall be used in lieu of the prior measurement or report of acreage in all cases where such acreage differs from the prior measurement or report of acreage. § 718.24

Cost of measurement.

The cost of initially determining the acreage of a crop or land use for which measurements are required shall be