[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 7]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR718.201]

[Page 37-38]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
       CHAPTER VII--FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 718_PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO MULTIPLE PROGRAMS--Table of Contents
 
    Subpart C_Reconstitution of Farms, Allotments, Quotas, and Bases
 
Sec. 718.201  Farm constitution.

    Source: 68 FR 16178, Apr. 3, 2003, unless otherwise noted.


    (a) In order to implement agency programs and monitor farmer 
compliance with regulations, the agency must have records on what land 
is being farmed by a particular producer. This is accomplished by a 
determination of what land or groups of land `constitute' an individual 
unit or farm. Land, which has been properly constituted under prior 
regulations, shall remain so constituted until a reconstitution is 
required under paragraph (c) of this section. The constitution and 
identification of land as a farm for the first time and the subsequent 
reconstitution of a farm made hereafter, shall include all land operated 
by an individual entity or joint operation as a single farming unit 
except that it shall not include:
    (1) Land under separate ownership unless the owners agree in writing 
and the labor, equipment, accounting system, and management are operated 
in common by the operator but separate from other tracts;
    (2) Land under a lease agreement of less than 1 year duration;
    (3) Land in different counties when the tobacco allotments or quotas 
established for the land involved cannot be transferred from one county 
to another county by lease, sale, or owner. However, this paragraph 
shall not apply if:
    (i) All of the land is contiguous;
    (ii) The land is located in counties that are contiguous in the same 
State if:
    (A) A burley or flue-cured tobacco quota is established for one or 
more of the tracts; and
    (B) The county committee determines that the tracts will be operated 
as a single farming unit as set forth in Sec. 718.202; or
    (iii) Because of a change in operation, tracts or parts of tracts 
will be divided from the parent farm that currently has land in more 
than one county, and there is no change in operation and ownership of 
the remainder of the farm, or if there is a change in ownership, the new 
owner agrees in writing to the constitution of the farm.
    (4) Federally-owned land;
    (5) State-owned wildlife lands unless the former owner has 
possession of the land under a leasing agreement; and
    (6) Land constituting a farm which is declared ineligible to be 
enrolled in a program under the regulations governing the program; and
    (7) For acreage base crops, land located in counties that are not 
contiguous. However, this paragraph shall not apply if:
    (i) Counties are divided by a river;
    (ii) Counties do not touch because of a correction line adjustment; 
or
    (iii) The land is within 20 miles, by road, of other land that will 
be a part of the farming unit.
    (b)(1) If all land on the farm is physically located in one county, 
the farm shall be administratively located in such county. If there is 
no FSA office in the county or the county offices have been 
consolidated, the farm shall be administratively located in the 
contiguous county most convenient for the farm operator.
    (2) If the land on the farm is located in more than one county, the 
farm shall be administratively located in either of such counties as the 
county committees and the farm operator agree. If no agreement can be 
reached, the farm shall be administratively located in the county where 
the principal dwelling is situated, or where the major portion of the 
farm is located if there is no dwelling.
    (c) A reconstitution of a farm either by division or by combination 
shall be required whenever:
    (1) A change has occurred in the operation of the land after the 
last constitution or reconstitution and as a result of such change the 
farm does not meet the conditions for constitution of a farm as set 
forth in paragraph (a) of this section except that no reconstitution 
shall be made if the county committee determines that the primary 
purpose of the change in operation is to establish eligibility to 
transfer allotments subject to sale or lease, or increase amount of 
program benefits received;

[[Page 38]]

    (2) The farm was not properly constituted the previous time;
    (3) An owner requests in writing that the land no longer be included 
in a farm composed of tracts under separate ownership;
    (4) The county committee determines that the farm was reconstituted 
on the basis of false information;
    (5) The county committee determines that tracts included in a farm 
are not being operated as a single farming unit.
    (d) Reconstitution shall not be approved if the county committee 
determines that the primary purpose of the reconstitution is to:
    (1) Circumvent the provisions of part 12 of this title; or
    (2) Circumvent any other chapter of this title.