Wheat is a basic source of food for the Nation, is produced throughout the United States by more than a million farmers, is sold on the country-wide market and, as wheat or flour, flows almost entirely through instrumentalities of interstate and foreign commerce from producers to consumers.

Abnormally excessive and abnormally deficient supplies of wheat on the country-wide market acutely and directly affect, burden, and obstruct interstate and foreign commerce. Abnormally excessive supplies overtax the facilities of interstate and foreign transportation, congest terminal markets and milling centers in the flow of wheat from producers to consumers, depress the price of wheat in interstate and foreign commerce, and otherwise disrupt the orderly marketing of such commodity in such commerce. Abnormally deficient supplies result in an inadequate flow of wheat and its products in interstate and foreign commerce with consequent injurious effects to the instrumentalities of such commerce and with excessive increases in the prices of wheat and its products in interstate and foreign commerce.

It is in the interest of the general welfare that interstate and foreign commerce in wheat and its products be protected from such burdensome surpluses and distressing shortages, and that a supply of wheat be maintained which is adequate to meet domestic consumption and export requirements in years of drought, flood, and other adverse conditions as well as in years of plenty, and that the soil resources of the Nation be not wasted in the production of such burdensome surpluses. Such surpluses result in disastrously low prices of wheat and other grains to wheat producers, destroy the purchasing power of grain producers for industrial products, and reduce the value of the agricultural assets supporting the national credit structure. Such shortages of wheat result in unreasonably high prices of flour and bread to consumers and loss of market outlets by wheat producers.

The conditions affecting the production and marketing of wheat are such that, without Federal assistance, farmers, individually or in cooperation, cannot effectively prevent the recurrence of such surpluses and shortages and the burdens on interstate and foreign commerce resulting therefrom, maintain normal supplies of wheat, or provide for the orderly marketing thereof in interstate and foreign commerce.

Wheat which is planted and not disposed of prior to the date prescribed by the Secretary for the disposal of excess acres of wheat is an addition to the total supply of wheat and has a direct effect on the price of wheat in interstate and foreign commerce and may also affect the supply and price of livestock and livestock products. In the circumstances, wheat not disposed of prior to such date must be considered in the same manner as mechanically harvested wheat in order to achieve the policy of the chapter.

The diversion of substantial acreages from wheat to the production of commodities which are in surplus supply or which will be in surplus supply if they are permitted to be grown on the diverted acreage would burden, obstruct, and adversely affect interstate and foreign commerce in such commodities, and would adversely affect the prices of such commodities in interstate and foreign commerce. Small changes in the supply of a commodity could create a sufficient surplus to affect seriously the price of such commodity in interstate and foreign commerce. Large changes in the supply of such commodity could have a more acute effect on the price of the commodity in interstate and foreign commerce and, also, could overtax the handling, processing, and transportation facilities through which the flow of interstate and foreign commerce in such commodity is directed. Such adverse effects caused by overproduction in one year could further result in a deficient supply of the commodity in the succeeding year, causing excessive increases in the price of the commodity in interstate and foreign commerce in such year. It is, therefore, necessary to prevent acreage diverted from the production of wheat to be used to produce commodities which are in surplus supply or which will be in surplus supply if they are permitted to be grown on the diverted acreage.

The provisions of this subpart affording a cooperative plan to wheat producers are necessary in order to minimize recurring surpluses and shortages of wheat in interstate and foreign commerce, to provide for the maintenance of adequate reserve supplies thereof, to provide for an adequate and orderly flow of wheat and its products in interstate and foreign commerce at prices which are fair and reasonable to farmers and consumers, and to prevent acreage diverted from the production of wheat from adversely affecting other commodities in interstate and foreign commerce.

The Secretary shall proclaim a national acreage allotment for each crop of wheat. The amount of the national acreage allotment for any crop of wheat shall be the number of acres which the Secretary determines on the basis of the projected national yield and expected underplantings (acreage other than that not harvested because of program incentives) of farm acreage allotments will produce an amount of wheat equal to the national marketing quota for wheat for the marketing year for such crop, or if a national marketing quota was not proclaimed, the quota which would have been determined if one had been proclaimed.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the 1971 through 1977 crops of wheat, feed grains and cotton, if in any year at least 55 per centum of the cropland acreage on an established summer fallow farm is devoted to a summer fallow use, no further acreage shall be required to be set aside under the wheat, feed grain and cotton programs for such year.

If the acreage allotment for any State for any crop of wheat is twenty-five thousand acres or less, the Secretary, in order to promote efficient administration of this chapter and the Agricultural Act of 1949 [7 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.], may designate such State as outside the commercial wheat-producing area for the marketing year for such crop. If such State is so designated, acreage allotments for such crop and marketing quotas for the marketing year therefor shall not be applicable to any farm in such State. Acreage allotments in any State shall not be increased by reason of such designation.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this subpart, no farm marketing quota for any crop of wheat shall be applicable to any farm with a farm acreage allotment of less than fifteen acres if the acreage of such crop of wheat does not exceed the small-farm base acreage determined for the farm, unless the operator elects in writing on a form and within the time prescribed by the Secretary to be subject to the farm acreage allotment and marketing quota. The small-farm base acreage for a farm shall be the smaller of (A) the average acreage of the crop of wheat planted for harvest in the three years 1959, 1960, and 1961, or such later three-year period, excluding 1963, determined by the Secretary to be representative, with adjustments for abnormal weather conditions, established crop-rotation practices on the farm, and such other factors as the Secretary determines should be considered for the purpose of establishing a fair and equitable small-farm base acreage, or (B) fifteen acres. The acreage allotment for any farm shall be the larger of (1) the small-farm base acreage determined as provided above on the basis of the three-year period 1959–1961, reduced by the same percentage by which the national acreage allotment for the crop is reduced below fifty-five million acres, or (2) the acreage allotment determined without regard to (1) above. If the operator of any such farm fails to make such election with respect to any crop of wheat, (i) for the purposes of section 1340 of this title, the farm acreage allotment for such crop of wheat shall be deemed to be the larger of (A) the small-farm base acreage or (B) the acreage allotment for the farm, (ii) the land-use provisions of section 1339 of this title shall be inapplicable to the farm, (iii) such crop of wheat shall not be eligible for price support, and (iv) wheat marketing certificates applicable to such crop shall not be issued with respect to the farm. The additional acreage required to provide acreage allotments for farms based upon small-farm base acreages under this section shall be in addition to National, State, and county acreage allotments. This section shall not be applicable to the crops planted for harvest in 1967 and subsequent years.

If a national marketing quota for wheat for one, two, or three marketing years is proclaimed, the Secretary shall, not later than August 1 of the calendar year in which such national marketing quota is proclaimed, conduct a referendum, by secret ballot, of farmers to determine whether they favor or oppose marketing quotas for the marketing year or years for which proclaimed. Any producer who has a farm acreage allotment shall be eligible to vote in any referendum held pursuant to this section, except that a producer who has a farm acreage allotment of less than fifteen acres shall not be eligible to vote unless the farm operator elected pursuant to section 1335 of this title to be subject to the farm marketing quota. The Secretary shall proclaim the results of any referendum held hereunder within thirty days after the date of such referendum, and if the Secretary determines that more than one-third of the farmers voting in the referendum voted against marketing quotas, the Secretary shall proclaim that marketing quotas will not be in effect with respect to the crop of wheat produced for harvest in the calendar year following the calendar year in which the referendum is held. If the Secretary determines that two-thirds or more of the farmers voting in a referendum approve marketing quotas for a period of two or three marketing years, no referendum shall be held for the subsequent year or years of such period. Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, the referendum with respect to the national marketing quota for wheat for the marketing year beginning June 1, 1986, may be conducted not later than thirty-one days after December 20, 1985.

Farm marketing quotas for wheat shall not be transferable, but, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary for such purpose, any farm marketing quota in excess of the supply of wheat for such farm for any marketing year may be allocated to other farms on which the acreage allotment has not been exceeded.

In the establishment of State, county, and farm acreage allotments for wheat under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended [7 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.], the acreage which is determined under regulations of the Secretary to have been diverted from the production of wheat under the special programs formulated pursuant to section 307 of this Act, section 339 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended [7 U.S.C. 1339], and section 124 of the Agricultural Act of 1961, shall be credited to the State, county, and farm as though such acreage had actually been devoted to the production of wheat.

Effective with the 1964 crop, during any year in which an acreage diversion program is in effect for feed grains, the Secretary shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, permit producers of feed grains to have acreage devoted to the production of feed grains considered as devoted to the production of wheat and producers of wheat to have acreage devoted to the production of wheat considered as devoted to the production of feed grains to such extent and subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines will not impair the effective operation of the program for feed grains or wheat. In establishing terms and conditions for permitting wheat to be planted in lieu of oats and rye, the Secretary may take into account the number of feed units per acre of wheat in relation to the number of feed units per acre of oats and rye.