American Seasonal and Perishable Crop Support Act

HR 6712 establishes a new program to provide payments to eligible farmers growing seasonal and perishable crops when national market prices fall below a reference price due to imports. To qualify, farmers must have an average adjusted gross income under $900,000 over three years and derive at least 75% of their income from farming. The program requires at least 50% of farmers in a geographic region to elect participation each marketing year, with payments calculated as 85% of a five-year average production multiplied by the difference between the reference price (based on regional prices from the last three years) and the actual market price. This directly affects farmers of crops like fresh produce that are typically marketed raw within eight weeks of harvest.