(a) The regulations in this subpart are applicable to the eligible acreage planted to wheat, barley, oats, or triticale that is grazed by livestock and not harvested in any other manner. This subpart specifies the terms and conditions under which a grazing payment will be made by CCC in lieu of an LDP.

(b) The form that is used in administering these payments is available in State and county FSA offices and will be prescribed by CCC.

(a) This subpart will be administered by the FSA under the general direction and supervision of the Executive Vice President, CCC or designee. The program will be carried out in the field by State and county FSA employees under the general direction and supervision of the State and county FSA committees.

(b) State and county committees, and representatives and employees thereof, do not have the authority to modify or waive any of the provisions of the regulations in this part, as amended or supplemented.

(c) The State committee will take any action required by this part which has not been taken by the county committee. The State committee will also:

(1) Correct, or require a county committee to correct, any action taken by such county committee which is not in accordance with the regulations of this part; or

(2) Require a county committee to withhold taking any action which is not in accordance with the regulations of this part.

(d) No delegation herein to a State or county committee will preclude the Executive Vice President, CCC, or a designee, from determining any question arising under the program or from reversing or modifying any determination made by a State or county committee.

(e) The Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs (DAFP), FSA, may authorize State and county committees to waive or modify deadlines and other program requirements in cases where timeliness or failure to meet such other requirements does not adversely affect the operation of the program. In addition, DAFP may establish other conditions for payments that will assist in achieving the goals of the program and may include such provisions in the program agreement or other program documents.

(a) To be an eligible producer for a payment under this subpart, the person must be a producer of wheat, barley, oats, or triticale in the applicable crop years. Also, to be an eligible producer, the person must meet all other qualifications for payment that are set out in this subpart, set out in parts 12, 718, 1400, and 1405 of this title. A person will not be considered the producer of the crop unless that person was responsible for the planting of the crop and had control and title of the crop at all times, including, at the time of planting and the time of the request for a payment under, this subpart.

(b) A minor may participate in the program if the right of majority has been conferred on the minor by court order or by statute, or if the minor participates through a guardian authorized to act on the minor's behalf in these matters. Alternatively, a minor may participate if the program documents are all signed by an acceptable (to CCC) guarantor or if bond, acceptable to CCC, is provided by a surety.

(c) For the crop to be eligible, the crop, in addition to other standards that may apply, must be grown on land that is classified as “cropland” in FSA farm records or on land that FSA determines has been cropped in the last 3 years except that the land may also qualify if the land is committed to a crop rotation, normal for the locality, that includes harvesting the subject crop for grain. These rules are designed to assure, to the extent practicable, the available payment did not produce plantings that otherwise would not have occurred and the CCC may deny payments in any instance in which there is reason to believe that the planting was done for that purpose. To that end, if the commodity involved has not been previously grown by the producer or is not one which is not predominately produced locally, the producer must submit evidence of seed purchases for planting the commodities and other evidence deemed needed or appropriate by the COC in order to assure that the program goals are made and that the land was not planted to an eligible commodity simply to obtain a payment. Also, the land to be eligible must, for the year involved, be grazed and cannot, during the crop year, be harvested at any time for any purpose, except as determined by the Deputy Administrator to accommodate producers with a history of double-cropping when the crop to be harvested is not the crop for which a payment is to be made under this subpart. Land will be considered grazed only to the extent that the crop on the land is consumed in the field as live plants by livestock for the normal period of time for grazing in the area.

(d)(1) A producer must, at the time the LDP agreement is signed, meet all other eligibility criteria for obtaining LDPs including AGI requirements as specified in part 1400 of this chapter.

(2) For producers of triticale who obtain a payment under this subpart the producer must enter into an agreement with CCC to forgo any harvesting of triticale on the acreage for which such a payment is made.

(e)(1) No payment will be made if the crop could not have been harvested because of weather conditions or any other reason.

(2) The producer must retain the control and title of the commodity for which the payment is sought from the date of planting through the date on which mechanical harvesting of the crop would normally occur.

(f) Producers who elect to graze their wheat, barley, oats, or triticale will not be eligible for an indemnity under the Federal Crop Insurance Program provisions of Chapter IV of this title or a payment under the Noninsured Crop Assistance Program authorized under part 1437 of this chapter.

(a) Application for the program provided in this subpart must be received, at the FSA county office that is responsible for administering programs for the farm, no earlier than the date on which eligible crops would normally be harvested and no later than the final loan availability date as determined in accordance with § 1421.5.

(b) The application must describe the land to be grazed and, in accordance with standards set by CCC, the tract or field location.

(c) The COC will determine the first harvest date, taking into account the date on which such crops are normally harvested locally for any purpose.

(d) Where multiple producers are involved, the application must specify each producer's share in the crop.

(1) A producer may only receive payments under this subpart that are commensurate with that producer's share in the crop as specified on the application.

(2) Should a person who is entitled to receive a payment under this subpart die, that payment, as earned, may be made to other persons as provided for in the rules specified in part 707 of this title.

(3) Third parties may also receive payments to the extent provided for in part 707 of this title for other situations involving an incapacitation of the producer.

(e) Refusals to allow CCC to verify information on any application or report used for this subpart can result in program ineligibility and producers must provide CCC, FSA, and its agent access to the property involved and to all records as may be relevant to the making of payments under this subpart.

(f) False statements will disqualify the producer from the program and may be subject to other sanctions including criminal sanctions.

(a) The grazing payment rate will be the LDP in effect for the farm on the date which the producer submits a complete program application to CCC. For triticale, the grazing rate will be equal to the LDP rate in effect for the predominant class of wheat in the county where the farm is located as of the date the application is filed.

(b) The payable units of production will be computed by multiplying the eligible grazed acres by the applicable yield determined under paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) The payment yield will be:

(1) The yield for the loan commodity on the farm in effect for the calculation of Price Loss Coverage as specified in part 1412 of this chapter;

(2) For a farm for which Agriculture Risk Coverage is elected, the payment yield that would otherwise be in effect for that loan commodity on the farm in the absence of such election as specified in part 1412 of this chapter; or

(3) In the case of a farm for which no payment yield is established for the loan commodity on the farm, an appropriate yield as determined by the COC.

(d) Payments can be withheld until the actual grazed acreage is verified and justified in connection with any other reports filed with FSA with respect to the farm (or filed with some other person or agency) and until all other necessary information is obtained. CCC may require such other verification as it deems appropriate to assure that the program goals are met.

(e) To receive the payment, the eligible producer must submit a request for payment on an application form as prescribed by CCC or FSA. The application may be obtained from the county FSA office, or from the USDA or FSA web site in the Internet. The form must be submitted to the county by the close of business on or before March 31 of the calendar year following the year the crop is normally harvested.

(f) The producer will be ineligible for payments under this subpart if any discrepancies between the reported acreage on the program form and other reports of acreage by the producer are not resolved by a date set by CCC.

(a) A producer is ineligible to receive payments under this subpart if it is determined by DAFP, the State committee, or the county committee to have:

(1) Adopted any scheme or device which tends to defeat the purpose of this program;

(2) Made any fraudulent representation; or

(3) Misrepresented any fact affecting a program determination.

(b) Any funds disbursed pursuant to this subpart to a producer engaged in a misrepresentation, scheme, or device, or to any other person as a result of the producer's actions, will be refunded with interest together with such other sums as may become due. Any producer engaged in acts prohibited by this section and any person receiving payment under this subpart, as a result of such acts, will be jointly and severally liable for any refund due under this section and for related charges. The remedies provided in this subpart will be in addition to other civil, criminal, or administrative remedies which may apply.

(a) In the event there is a failure to comply with any term, requirement, or condition for payment arising under this application, of this subpart, and if any refund of a payment to CCC becomes due for that or other reason in connection with the application, of this subpart, all payments made under this subpart to any producer are to be refunded to CCC together with interest as determined in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section and late-payment charges as provided for in part 1402 of this chapter.

(b) All persons listed on an application are jointly and severally liable for any refund due in connection with that application and for any related charges which may be determined to be due for any reason.

(c) Interest is applicable to refunds required from the producer. Interest will be charged at the rate of interest which the United States Treasury charges CCC for funds, as of the date CCC made such benefits available. Interest will accrue from the date such benefits were made available to the date of repayment but the interest rate will increase to reflect any increase in the rate charged to CCC by Treasury for any percent of time for which the interest assessment is collected. CCC may waive the accrual of interest if CCC determines that the cause of the erroneous determination was not due to any action of the producer.

(d) Late payment interest will be assessed on refunds in accordance with the provisions of, and subject to the rates in part 1403 of this chapter.

(e) Producers must refund to CCC any excess payments made by CCC with respect to any application in which they have an interest. Such refund will be subject to interest at the same rate that applies to other refunds.