Protecting Mushroom Farmers Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3815 To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to require the research and development of a policy to insure the production of mushrooms. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 5, 2023 Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself and Mr. MEUSER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to require the research and development of a policy to insure the pro- duction of mushrooms. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Mushroom 4 Farmers Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON MUSHROOMS. 6 Section 522(c) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 7 U.S.C. 1522(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(20) MUSHROOMS.— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3815.IH H3815 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3815 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall 1 carry out research and development, or offer to 2 enter into 1 or more contracts with 1 or more 3 qualified persons to carry out research and de- 4 velopment, regarding a policy to insure— 5 ‘‘(i) the production of mushroom 6 growing media; and 7 ‘‘(ii) the production of mushrooms. 8 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF POLICY.—Notwith- 9 standing the second sentence of section 10 508(a)(1), and section 508(a)(2), the Corpora- 11 tion shall make a policy described in subpara- 12 graph (A) available if the requirements of sec- 13 tion 508(h) are met. 14 ‘‘(C) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DE- 15 SCRIBED.—Research and development described 16 in subparagraph (A) shall evaluate the effective- 17 ness of policies described in that subparagraph, 18 including policies that— 19 ‘‘(i) are based on the risk of— 20 ‘‘(I) pests, including mushroom 21 phorid flies and sciarid flies; 22 ‘‘(II) fungal pathogens; and 23 ‘‘(III) viral pathogens; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3815.IH H3815 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3815 IH ‘‘(ii) consider other causes of loss ap- 1 plicable to mushroom compost and mush- 2 room production, such as— 3 ‘‘(I) a loss of electricity due to 4 weather; and 5 ‘‘(II) loss of growing media due 6 to excessive 5-year, 10-year, or 20- 7 year rainfall events; 8 ‘‘(iii) consider appropriate best prac- 9 tices to minimize the risk of loss; 10 ‘‘(iv) consider whether to provide cov- 11 erage for mushrooms under 1 policy or to 12 provide coverage for various phases of pro- 13 duction; 14 ‘‘(v) have streamlined reporting and 15 paperwork requirements that take into ac- 16 count short propagation schedules, variable 17 crop years, and the variety of mushrooms 18 that may be produced in a single facility; 19 and 20 ‘‘(vi) provide protection for revenue 21 losses. 22 ‘‘(D) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 23 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 24 the Corporation shall submit to the Committee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3815.IH H3815 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3815 IH on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 1 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 2 and Forestry of the Senate a report that de- 3 scribes— 4 ‘‘(i) the results of the research and 5 development carried out under subpara- 6 graph (A); and 7 ‘‘(ii) any recommendations with re- 8 spect to those results.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3815.IH H3815 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB