(a) Subject to paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, FSA will annually adjust the base acres for covered commodities with respect to the farm by the number of production flexibility contract acres or base acres protected by a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contract that expired, was voluntarily terminated, or was early released.

(b) The total base acres on a farm cannot exceed the limitation specified in § 1412.24.

(c) Adjustments to (not reallocation of) base acres on a farm in accordance with this section are to be completed by no later than August 1 or other date as determined and announced by the CRP contract expired or was voluntarily terminated.

(d) For the fiscal year in which an adjustment to base acres under this section is made, the producer of the farm may elect to receive ARC or PLC payments, in accordance with any ARC and PLC election made under section 1115 of the 2014 Farm Bill with respect to the base acres added to the farm under this section, or a prorated payment under the CRP contract, but not both. For any farm that had all of its base acres reduced for participation in CRP, if the farm had no base acres or election in effect before an adjustment is made to put base acres of a covered commodity back on the farm, the owners of that farm will have an opportunity to reallocate base acres and the producers will have an opportunity to elect ARC or PLC within 30 days of being notified of the establishment of base acres on that farm before producers enroll base acres on that farm.

(a) The sum of the following cannot exceed the total cropland acreage on the farm, plus approved double-cropped acreage for the farm:

(1) The sum of all base acres established for the farm in accordance with this part; plus

(2) Any cropland acreage on the farm enrolled in a CRP contract in accordance with part 1410 of this chapter; plus

(3) Any cropland acreage on the farm enrolled in a wetland reserve program contract in accordance with part 1467 of this chapter; plus

(4) Any other acreage on the farm enrolled in a Federal conservation program for which payments are made in exchange for not producing an agricultural commodity on the acreage.

(b) The Deputy Administrator will give the owner of the farm the opportunity to select the base acres against which any reduction required in this section will be made. Absent the owner selecting the base acres for reduction, FSA will apply a pro-rata reduction against the base acres before computing and issuing any payments for the program year when a reduction becomes necessary.

(c) In applying paragraph (a) of this section, FSA will take into account the practice of double cropping on a farm, as determined by FSA.

(d) For base acre reductions:

(1) Subject to the limitation in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, a permanent reduction of all or a portion of a farm's base acres will be allowed when all owners of the farm execute and submit a written request for such reduction, on a CCC-approved standard, uniform form designated by CCC, to the FSA county office where the records for the farm are administratively maintained.

(2) A permanent reduction of all or a portion of a farm's base acres to negate or reduce a program violation is not allowed.

(e) When base acres on a farm are converted to a non-agricultural commercial or industrial use, the total base acres on the farm will be reduced accordingly regardless of the submission of a request for such reduction.

(f) The base acres on a farm will be proportionately reduced when it is determined that the land has been subdivided and developed for multiple residential units or other nonfarming uses if, in the judgment of the county committee, the size of the tracts and the density of the subdivision is such that the land is unlikely to return to the previous agricultural use, unless either of the following applies:

(1) The producers on the farm demonstrate that the land remains devoted to commercial agricultural production or is likely to be returned to the previous agricultural use and such land has not been divided from the farm with a farm reconstitution performed according to part 718 of this title; or

(2) A properly constituted or reconstituted farm contains sufficient land that has not yet been subdivided and developed for multiple residential units or other nonfarming uses, and the producers on the farm demonstrate that the land remains devoted to commercial agricultural production or is likely to be returned to the previous agricultural use.

(a) Any or all of the owner(s) of a farm with generic base acres adjusted as of February 9, 2018, will have a one-time opportunity in an allocation period as announced by FSA, if a covered commodity including upland cotton was planted or prevented from being planted during the 2009 through 2016 crop years, to:

(1) Allocate the farm's generic base acres to seed cotton base acres in a quantity equal to the greater of:

(i) 80 percent of the generic base acres on the farm; or

(ii) The average number of upland cotton acres planted and prevented from being planted on the farm during the 2009 through 2012 crop years, not to exceed the total generic base acres on the farm; or

(2) Allocate base acres for covered commodities, including seed cotton, by applying paragraph (e) of this section.

(b) Under no circumstances will the allocation of generic base acres on a farm as specified in paragraph (a) of this section result in any increase in total base acres on a farm. Additionally, if any owner submits a written statement that conflicts with the allocation request or expresses written disagreement with the allocation filed according to paragraph (a) of this section, no allocation will be approved for the farm unless all the owners of the farm provide FSA with written evidence of the dispute resolution during the allocation period.

(c) FSA will provide the farm operator and owners of record with a summary of all covered commodities P&CP acres and subsequently planted crop acreage for the 2008 through 2012 crop years (as reported to FSA on acreage reports filed with FSA in each of those years). Acreage not reported to FSA by producers will not be included in the summary. The summary of records specified in paragraph (c) of this section is intended to assist owners of farms with the one-time opportunity for generic base acre allocation as provided in this section. Any owner of a farm may also at any time visit the FSA county office and request to obtain a copy of the summary referenced in this paragraph (c).

(d) Owners will be provided a one-time opportunity to update the records identified in paragraph (c) of this section during the allocation period, provided that there are crop insurance records (or other verifiable documentation available to support those requested updates). In the event that an update to a farm's P&CP acres of a covered commodity for 2009 through 2012 causes any payment under another FSA or CCC program to become unearned, the overpayment must be refunded to FSA or CCC in accordance with the rules for that program and the FSA or CCC regulations governing overpayment (part 718 of this title and part 1403 of this chapter).

(e) After an update as specified in paragraph (d) of this section, the owner may allocate the farm's generic base acres during the allocation period based on a proration of each covered commodity's P&CP acres or subsequently planted crop acreage in crop years 2009 through 2012 to the total P&CP acres or subsequently planted crop acreage of all covered commodities during that time.

(f) Owners can allocate generic base acres at any time during the allocation period without receiving or requesting the summary records, and, therefore, failure to receive a summary record from FSA is not grounds for appeal or extension of the allocation period.

(g) The option to allocate generic base acres is an “all or nothing” decision for the farm. Generic base acres will not be retained, partially or in whole. A decision by any owner to allocate generic base acres on a farm in accordance with this section is final and binding if made according to this section during the allocation period unless that allocation is withdrawn in writing by that owner or another owner. If another owner subsequently files a different allocation request in whatever time remains in the stated allocation period or if there are conflicting allocation requests of owners in the allocation period, FSA will not make the allocation unless the conflict is resolved via written agreement between the owners who filed the conflicting requests. In the event that a resolution is not presented, the provisions of paragraph (h) of this section will take effect. In the case of submitting evidence of resolution, the written agreement must be filed with FSA during the allocation period. Any and all updates and allocation requests mentioned in this section are subject to review and approval or disapproval by FSA for CCC.

(h) In the event that an owner fails to make an allocation according to this part and the farm has met the planting requirement in paragraph (a) of this section, the farm will receive an allocation of seed cotton base acres in accordance with paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section.

(a) A farm on which all of the cropland was planted to grass or pasture, including cropland that was idle or fallow from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2017, will have base acres and yields maintained for the covered commodities on the farm, except that no payment will be made with respect to those base acres under this part for the 2019 through 2023 crop years.

(b) The producers on a farm for which all of the base acres are maintained under paragraph (a) of this section are:

(1) Ineligible to change the election applicable to the producers on the farm under subpart G of this part; and

(2) Not permitted to reconstitute the farm to void or change the treatment of base acres under paragraph (a) of this section.