H.R. 7762

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7762 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7762

To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to require the 
Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to provide 
recovery payments to producers of seasonal and perishable crops that 
experience low prices caused by imports, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 3, 2026

Mr. Bishop introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to require the 
Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to provide 
recovery payments to producers of seasonal and perishable crops that 
experience low prices caused by imports, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Our Produce Act''.

SEC. 2. SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP LOSS PILOT PROGRAM.

The Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
465; 118 Stat. 3882) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Secretary of Agriculture'' each place it 
appears and inserting ``Secretary'';
(2) in section 3 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note)--
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``(3) The term'' 
and inserting the following:
``(4) State department of agriculture.--The term'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``(2) The term'' 
and inserting the following:
``(3) State.--The term''; and
(C) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(1) The term'' 
and inserting the following:
``(1) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
of Agriculture.
``(2) Specialty crop.--The term''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:

``TITLE V--SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP PROGRAMS

``SEC. 501. SEASONAL AND PERISHABLE CROP LOSS PILOT PROGRAM.

``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Effective price.--The term `effective price', with 
respect to a seasonal and perishable crop for a marketing year, 
means the national average market price for that seasonal and 
perishable crop during the seasonal marketing window for the 
seasonal and perishable crop.
``(2) Reference price.--The term `reference price', with 
respect to a seasonal and perishable crop for a marketing year, 
means the average of the national average market prices 
received by all producers of the seasonal and perishable crop 
during the seasonal marketing window for the seasonal and 
perishable crop for the most recent 5-year period of marketing 
seasons, excluding--
``(A) the marketing season during that period with 
the highest national average market price; and
``(B) the marketing season during that period with 
the lowest national average market price.
``(3) Seasonal and perishable crop.--The term `seasonal and 
perishable crop' means an asparagus, bell pepper, blueberry, 
cucumber, or squash crop that is--
``(A) marketed in raw form for consumption without 
further processing; and
``(B) as determined by the Secretary, normally 
marketed not later than 4 weeks after harvesting.
``(4) Seasonal marketing window.--The term `seasonal 
marketing window' means the timeframe during a marketing year, 
as determined by the Secretary--
``(A) during which a crop is normally marketed 
within a specific geographical region of the United 
States; and
``(B) that concludes on the date that is not later 
than 4 weeks after the last day on which the crop is 
normally harvested.
``(b) Establishment of Pilot Program.--
``(1) In general.--Beginning with marketing year 2025, the 
Secretary shall establish a pilot program under which the 
Secretary shall provide annual crop loss payments to producers 
of seasonal and perishable crops located in any geographical 
region described in paragraph (2) in accordance with this 
section, if the Secretary determines that, during the 
applicable marketing year--
``(A) the effective price of the seasonal and 
perishable crop is less than the reference price of 
that seasonal and perishable crop; and
``(B) the crop loss described in subparagraph (A) 
is caused by imports of the applicable seasonal and 
perishable crop.
``(2) Description of geographical regions.--A geographical 
region referred to in paragraph (1) is a geographical region of 
the United States in which a seasonal and perishable crop is 
grown within a seasonal marketing window during which a harvest 
and shipment of the seasonal and perishable crop occurs, as 
determined by the Secretary.
``(c) Eligibility.--
``(1) Application.--To be eligible to receive a payment 
under the pilot program under this section, a producer of 1 or 
more seasonal and perishable crops shall submit to the 
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Secretary may require, 
including the information described in paragraph (2).
``(2) Requirement.--No producer may be eligible to receive 
a payment under the pilot program under this section unless the 
producer--
``(A) has an average adjusted gross income of less 
than $5,000,000 for the 3 tax years preceding the most 
recent tax year; and
``(B) derives at least 75 percent of the adjusted 
gross income of the producer from farming, ranching, or 
forestry, as determined by the Secretary.
``(d) Payment Amount.--The amount of a payment provided under the 
pilot program under this section shall be equal to the product obtained 
by multiplying--
``(1) the payment rate for the marketing year for which the 
payment is provided with respect to the applicable seasonal and 
perishable crop under subsection (e); and
``(2) the average production during the 5 most recent 
marketing years of the seasonal and perishable crop by the 
producer during the seasonal marketing window, excluding--
``(A) the marketing year during that period with 
the highest production; and
``(B) the marketing year during that period with 
the lowest production.
``(e) Payment Rate.--The rate of a payment provided under the pilot 
program under this section shall be equal to the difference between--
``(1) the reference price of the applicable seasonal and 
perishable crop; and
``(2) the effective price of that seasonal and perishable 
crop.
``(f) Sunset.--The pilot program under this section shall terminate 
on the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of the 
Protecting Our Produce Act.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to 
carry out the pilot program under this section $200,000,000 for each 
fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of the 
Protecting Our Produce Act and before the date described in subsection 
(f).''.
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