§ 1379. Reconstitution of Farms

(a) Transfers from parent farm

     In any case in which the ownership of a tract of land is transferred from a parent farm, the acreage allotments, history acreages, and base acreages for the farm shall be divided between such tract and the parent farm in the same proportion that the cropland acreage in such tract bears to the cropland acreage in the parent farm, except that the Secretary shall provide by regulation the method to be used in determining the division, if any, of the acreage allotments, histories, and bases in any case in which—

     (1) the tract of land transferred from the parent farm has been or is being transferred to any agency having the right to acquire it by eminent domain;

     (2) the tract of land transferred from the parent farm is to be used for nonagricultural purposes;

     (3) the parent farm resulted from a combination of two or more tracts of land and records are available showing the contribution of each tract to the allotments, histories, and bases of the parent farm;

     (4) the appropriate county committee determines that a division based on cropland proportions would result in allotments and bases not representative of the operations normally carried out on any transferred tract during the base period;

     (5) the parent farm is divided among heirs in settling an estate; or

     (6) neither the tract transferred from the parent farm nor the remaining portion of the parent farm receives allotments in excess of allotments for similar farms in the community having allotments of the commodity or commodities involved and such allotments are consistent with good land uses, but this clause (6) shall not be applicable in the case of burley tobacco.

(b) Combination of tracts in contiguous counties

     In any case in which two or more tracts of land are located in contiguous counties in the same State and are owned by the same person, the Secretary shall permit such tracts to be combined as one farm if (1) a Burley or flue-cured tobacco poundage quota is established for one or more of such tracts, and (2) the relevant county committees determine that such tracts will be operated as a single farming unit.

(c) Burley tobacco poundage quotas

     When a farm is divided through reconstitution, the burley tobacco poundage quota which transfers with the divided land shall not be less than 1,000 pounds (except when the reconstitution of the farm is among immediate family members or pursuant to probate proceedings).

(Feb. 16, 1938, ch. 30, title III, § 379, as added Pub. L. 89–321, title VII, § 707, Nov. 3, 1965, 79 Stat. 1211; amended Pub. L. 91–524, title IV, § 404(4), title VI, § 605(2), Nov. 30, 1970, 84 Stat. 1366, 1378; Pub. L. 98–180, title II, § 212(b), Nov. 29, 1983, 97 Stat. 1149; Pub. L. 101–577, § 2(c), Nov. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 2856; Pub. L. 102–237, title I, § 116(3), Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1841; Pub. L. 106–78, title VIII, § 803(c)(6)(C), Oct. 22, 1999, 113 Stat. 1178.)

     1999—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–78 inserted "or flue-cured" after "Burley".

     1991—Subsecs. (a)(4) to (7), (c). Pub. L. 102–237 struck out "or" at end of par. (4), substituted "; or" for period at end of par. (5), substituted a period for "; or" at end of par. (6), and redesignated par. (7) as subsec. (c) and moved subsec. (c) to follow subsec. (b).

     1990—Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 101–577 added par. (7).

     1983—Pub. L. 98–180 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

     1970—Pub. L. 91–524 temporarily inserted provision that term "acreage allotments" include the farm base acreage allotments for upland cotton and the domestic allotment for wheat. See Effective and Termination Dates of 1970 Amendment note below.

     Sections 404 and 605 of Pub. L. 91–524, as amended by Pub. L. 93–86, § 1(11), (22), Aug. 10, 1973, 87 Stat. 229, 235, provided that the amendments made by those sections are effective only with respect to 1971 through 1977 crops.

     This section is referred to in section 1314d of this title.