[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 7, Volume 7, Parts 700 to 899] [Revised as of January 1, 2001] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 7CFR718.2] [Page 79-82] TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE CHAPTER VII--FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PART 718--PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO MULTIPLE PROGRAMS--Table of Contents Subpart A--General Provisions Sec. 718.2 Definitions. Except as provided in individual parts of chapters VII and XIV of this title, the following terms shall be as defined herein: Administrative variance (AV) means the amount by which the determined acreage may exceed the effective allotment and be considered in compliance with program regulations. Agricultural Use means devoting the land to annual or perennial crops, including conserving uses, pasture, aquaculture or plantings of trees for any purpose. Land may be left fallow, but weeds must be controlled. Allotment means an acreage for a commodity allocated to a farm in accordance with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended. Allotment crop means any crop for which acreage allotments are established pursuant to parts 723 and 729 of this chapter. Combination means consolidation of two or more farms or parts of farms into one farm. Contract acreage means the quantity of acres enrolled in a contract in accordance with part 1412 of this title. Contract commodity means a crop of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, oats, barley, upland cotton, or rice. Controlled substances means the term as set forth in accordance with 21 CFR part 1308. County means the County or parish of a State. For Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, a county shall be an area designated by the State committee with the concurrence of the Deputy Administrator. Crop of economic significance means a crop that has contributed in the previous year, or is expected to contribute in the current crop year, 10 percent or more of the total expected value of all crops grown by the producer. However, notwithstanding the preceding sentence, if the total expected liability under the catastrophic risk protection endorsement is equal to or less than the administrative fee required for the crop, such crop will not be considered a crop of economic significance. Crop reporting date means date established by the Administrator, FSA, representing the final date by which the farm operator, farm owner, or properly authorized agent must report applicable crop acreage for the report to be considered timely filed. Cropland. (1) Means land which the county committee determines meets any of the following conditions: (i) Is currently being tilled for the production of a crop for harvest; (ii) Is not currently tilled, but it can be established that such land has been tilled in a prior year and is suitable for crop production; (iii) Is currently devoted to a one- or two-row shelterbelt planting, orchard, or vineyard; (iv) Is in terraces, that, were cropped in the past, even though they are no longer capable of being cropped; (v) Is in sod waterways or filter strips planted to a perennial cover; or (vi) Is preserved as cropland in accordance with part 704 or 1410 of this title. (2) Land classified as cropland shall be removed from such classification upon a determination by the county committee that the land is: (i) No longer used for agricultural production; (ii) No longer suitable for production of crops; (iii) Subject to a restrictive easement or contract that prohibits its use for [[Page 80]] the production of crops unless otherwise authorized by the regulation of this chapter; (iv) No longer preserved as cropland in accordance with the provisions of part 704 or 1410 of this title and does not meet the conditions in paragraphs (1)(i) through (1)(vi) of this definition; or (v) Devoted to trees (other than those set forth in accordance with part 704 or 1410 of this title, one- or two-row shelterbelt plantings, orchards, or vineyards) which were planted in the preceding year except that land planted to trees or devoted to ponds, lakes, or tanks from September 1 through December 31 of the preceding year shall retain its cropland classification for the succeeding year, and in the current year shall retain its cropland classification for the current year. Current year means the year for which applicable allotments, quotas, and acreages, or other program determinations are established for that program. For controlled substance violations, the year that contains the date of actual conviction. Deputy Administrator means Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs, Farm Service Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture or a designee. Determination means a decision issued by a State, county or area FSA committee or the employees of such a committee that affects a participant's participation in a program administered by FSA. Determined acreage means that acreage established by a representative of the Department of Agriculture by use of official acreage, digitizing or planimetering areas on the photograph or other photographic image, or computations from scaled dimensions or ground measurements. Division means the division of a farm into two or more farms or parts of farms. Entity means a corporation, joint stock company, association limited partnership, irrevocable trust, estate, charitable organization, or other similar organization including any such organization participating in the farming operation as a partner in a general partnership, a participant in a joint venture, a grantor of a revocable trust, or as a participant in a similar organization. Family member means an individual to whom a person is related as spouse, lineal ancestor, lineal descendant, or sibling, including: (1) Great grandparent; (2) Grandparent; (3) Parent; (4) Child, including legally adopted children; (5) Great grandchildren; (6) Sibling of the family member in the farming operation; and (7) Spouse of a person listed in paragraphs (1) through (6) of this definition. Farm means land that is being operated by one producer with equipment, labor, accounting system and management substantially separate from that of any other unit. Land on which tenants provide their own labor and equipment shall not be considered a separate farm. Farm inspection (spot-check) means an inspection by an authorized FSA representative using aerial or ground compliance to determine the extent of producer adherence to program requirements. Farm number means serial number assigned to a farm by the county committee for the purpose of identification. Farm program payment yield means the yield for a crop which is determined in accordance with part 1413 of this title as in effect on January 2, 1996. Farmland means the sum of the cropland, forest, and other land on the farm. Field means a part of a farm which is separated from the balance of the farm by permanent boundaries such as fences, permanent waterways, woodlands, and croplines in cases where farming practices make it probable that such cropline is not subject to change, or other similar features. Ground measurement means the distance between 2 points on the ground, obtained by actual use of a chain tape, or other measuring device, that is expressed in chains and links. Joint operation means a general partnership, joint venture, or other similar business organization. [[Page 81]] Landlord means one who rents or leases farmland to another. Measurement service means a measurement of acreage or farm-stored commodities performed by a representative of FSA and paid for by the producer requesting the measurement. Measurement service guarantee means a guarantee provided when a producer requests and pays for an authorized FSA representative to measure acreage for FSA and CCC program participation unless the producer takes action to adjust the measured acreage. If the producer has taken no such action, and the measured acreage is later discovered to be incorrect, the acreage determined pursuant to the measurement service will be used for program purposes for that program year. Measurement service after planting means determining a crop or designated acreage after planting but before the farm operator files a report of acreage for the crop. Minor child means an individual who is under 18 years of age. Court proceedings conferring majority on an individual under 18 years of age will not change such an individual's status as a minor. Nonagricultural commercial or industrial use means land that is no longer suitable for producing annual or perennial crops, including conserving uses, or forestry products. Normal planting period means that period during which the crop is normally planted in the county, or area within the county, with the expectation of producing a normal crop. Normal row width means the normal distance between rows of the crop in the field, but not less than 30 inches for all crops. Operator means an individual, entity, or joint operation who is determined by the county committee as being in general control of the farming operations on the farm during the current year. Owner means one who has legal ownership of farmland, including one: (1) Who is buying farmland under a contract for deed; (2) Who has a life-estate in the property; or (3) (i) For purposes of enrolling a farm in a program authorized by chapters VII and XIV of this title one who has purchased a farm in a foreclosure proceeding and: (A) The redemption period has not passed; and (B) The original owner has not redeemed the property. (ii) One who meets the provisions of paragraph (3)(i) of this definition shall be entitled to receive benefits in accordance with such a program only to the extent the owner complies with all program requirements. Partial reconstitution means a reconstitution that is made effective in the current year for some crops, but is not made effective in the current year for other crops, which results in having two or more farm numbers for the same farm. Participant means one who participates in, or receives payments or benefits in accordance with any of the programs administered by FSA. Pasture means land that is used to, or has the potential to, produce food for grazing animals. Person means an individual, or an individual participating as a member of a joint operation or similar operation, a corporation, joint stock company, association, limited stock company, limited partnership, irrevocable trust, revocable trust together with the grantor of the trust, estate, or charitable organization including any entity participating in the farming operation as a partner in a general partnership, a participant in a joint venture, a grantor of a revocable trust, or a participant in a similar entity, or a State, political subdivision or agency thereof. To be considered a separate person for the purpose of this part, the individual or other legal entity must: (1) Have a separate and distinct interest in the land or the crop involved; (2) Exercise separate responsibility for such interest; and (3) Be responsible for the cost of farming related to such interest from a fund or account separate from that of any other individual or entity. Producer means an owner, operator, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper, who shares in the risk of producing a crop and who is entitled to share in the crop available for marketing from the farm, or would have shared had the crop been [[Page 82]] produced. A producer includes a grower of hybrid seed. Production flexibility contract means a contract entered in accordance with part 1412 of this title. Prohibited plants means marijuana (cannabis sativa), opium poppies (papaver somniferum), coca bushes (erythroxylum coca), cacti of the genus lophophora and other drug producing plants, the planting or harvesting of which is prohibited by Federal or State law. Random inspection means an examination of a farm by an authorized representative of FSA selected as a part of an impartial sample to determine the adherence to program requirements. Quota means the pounds allocated to a farm for a commodity in accordance with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended. Reconstitution means a change in the land constituting a farm as a result of combination or division. Reported acreage means the acreage reported by the farm operator, farm owner, or a properly authorized agent on form FSA-578, Report of Acreage, or other form designated by the Deputy Administrator. Required inspection means an examination by an authorized representative of FSA of a farm specifically selected by application of prescribed rules to determine the producer's adherence to program requirements or to verify the farm operator's, farm owner's, or properly authorized agent's report. Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, or a designee. Sharecropper means one who performs work in connection with the production of a crop under the supervision of the operator and who receives a share of such crop for its labor. Skip-row or strip-crop planting means a cultural practice in which strips or rows of the crop are alternated with strips of idle land or another crop. Staking and referencing means determining an acreage before planting by: (1) Measuring a delineated area on photography or computing the chains and links from ground measurement and sketching the field or subdivision of a field; and, (2) Staking and referencing the area on the ground. Standard deduction means an acreage that is excluded from the gross acreage in a field because such acreage is considered as being used for farm equipment turn-areas. Such acreage is established by application of a prescribed percentage of the area planted to the crop in lieu of measuring the turn area. State means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Subdivision means a part of a field that is separated from the balance of the field by temporary boundary, such as a cropline which could be easily moved or will likely disappear. Tenant means: (1) One who rents land from another in consideration of the payment of a specified amount of cash or amount of a commodity; or (2) One (other than a sharecropper) who rents land from another person in consideration of the payment of a share of the crops or proceeds therefrom. Tolerance means for marketing quota crops, and peanuts, a prescribed amount within which the reported acreage may differ from the determined acreage and still be considered as correctly reported. Tract means a unit of contiguous land under one ownership which is operated as a farm or part of a farm. Tract combination means the combining of two or more tracts if the tracts have common ownership and are contiguous. Tract division means the dividing of a tract into two or more tracts because of a change in ownership or operation. Turn-area means the area across the ends of crop rows which is used for operating equipment necessary to the production of a row crop (also called turnrow, headland, or endrow).