S. 2097 — Introduced in Senate

II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2097 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 21, 2023Mr. Hoeven (for himself and Mr. Tester) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to improve a program that provides livestock disaster assistance, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Livestock Disaster Relief Act. 2. Supplemental agricultural disaster assistance (a) Definition of livestock Section 1501(a)(4)(A) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(a)(4)(A)) is amended by inserting and unweaned cattle after dairy cattle. (b) Definition of eligible livestock producer Section 1501(c)(1)(C)(i)(I) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(c)(1)(C)(i)(I)) is amended by inserting , including through a lease or rental agreement under which payment is based, in whole or in part, on the number of units of livestock per a specified period of time before the semicolon at the end. (c) Livestock forage disaster program Section 1501(c)(3) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(c)(3)) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (C)(iii)(I)— (A) in item (aa), by striking or at the end; (B) in item (bb), by striking by at the end and inserting or; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (cc) the national average corn price per bushel for the 3-month period immediately preceding that March 1; by ; and (2) in subparagraph (D)(ii)(II)— (A) in item (aa), by striking 3 and inserting 4; (B) in item (bb), by striking 4 monthly and inserting 6 monthly; and (C) in item (cc), by striking an amount equal to and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the following: “an amount equal to— (AA) in the case of a county with a normal grazing period of not less than 8 months, 8 monthly payments using the monthly payment rate determined under subparagraph (B); or (BB) in the case of a county with a normal grazing period of less than 8 months, 1 monthly payment for each month of the normal grazing period for that county, using the monthly payment rate determined under that subparagraph. . (d) Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Section 1501(d) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(d)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1)— (A) by inserting (including drought) after adverse weather; and (B) by striking , that are not covered under subsection (b) or (c); and (2) in paragraph (2)— (A) by inserting (including transportation costs for feed, water, and livestock) after shortages; (B) by inserting , at a minimum, before inspections; (C) by striking reduce losses and inserting the following: “reduce— (A) losses ; and (D) in subparagraph (A) (as so designated), by striking fever. and inserting the following: “fever; and (B) winter stockpile grazing losses. .