Agricultural Act

(Measure passed House, amended, roll call #478 (294-114))

Agricultural Act - =Title I: Payment Limitation for Wheat, Feed Grains and Upland Cotton= - Sets increasing amounts of payment limitations for each crop year from 1978 through 1981 for persons entitled to receive payments for wheat, feed grains or upland cotton under the annual programs established by the Agricultural Acts of 1949 and 1970.

=Title II: Dairy and Beekeeper Programs= - Extends the effectiveness of Class I dairy base plans through 1984 and of other dairy base plans through 1981. Extends through 1981 the authority for making dairy products available to veterans' hospitals and to the Armed Forces, and for making indemnity payments to dairy farmers who sustain losses as a result of pesticides or, new with this Act, as a result of nuclear radiation of fallout.

Sets the price support of milk at not less than 80 percent of parity, adjusted at the beginning of each semiannual period after the beginning of the marketing year and at the beginning of each remaining quarter.

Extends through fiscal year 1981 the provisions of the beekeeper indemnity program.

=Title III: Wool and Mohair= - Extends through 1981 the price support provisions of the National Wool Act of 1954. Excepts 1977 from the current price support of 80.2 cents per pound, grease basis; sets such support, for the years 1977 through 1981, at 85 percent of the amount calculated according to a specified formula. Excepts 1977 from the current price support for mohair; but makes no provision for such support for the years 1977 through 1981.

=Title IV: Wheat= - Extends specified provisions of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended, through 1981.

Raises the loan level for wheat to not less than $2.25 per bushel for the 1977 crops and to $2.35 per bushel for the 1978 through 1981 crops. Permits the Secretary of Agriculture to reduce the level of loans and purchases of wheat if the average price of wheat is less than 105 percent of such level. Requires the Secretary, if he makes such an adjustment to increase the target price for wheat to provide the same total return as if such adjustment had not been made. Replaces the current established price with a target price and establishes such target price at $2.90 per bushel for the 1977 crop, at $3.00 per bushel for 1978, and for the 1979 through 1981 crops at an amount calculated according to a specified formula. Sets formulae, effective in 1978 and 1979, for disaster payments and for prevented planting payments to compensate producers prevented from planting acreage intended for wheat because of drought, flood or other natural disaster.

Suspends, for producers, processors and handlers, the marketing certificate program for the 1974 through 1981 wheat crops. Extends the set-aside program and current yield calculations through 1981.

Substitutes, for the existing specified formulae for the determination of wheat acreage allotments, a single general formula based on an allocation factor found by dividing the announced national wheat acreage allotment by the number of harvested acres. Multiplies the allocation factor by the acreage of wheat harvested on the farm in the current crop year to determine each farm's allotment.

=Title V: Feed Grains= - Extends specified provisions of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended, through the 1981 crops.

Raises the loan level for corn to $2.00 per bushel for each of the 1977 through 1981 crops. Requires the Secretary to reduce the level of loans and purchases of corn, if the average price of corn is less than 105 percent of such level. Requires the Secretary, if he makes such an adjustment, to increase the target price for corn to provide the same total return as if such adjustment had not been made. Replaces the established price of feed grains with a target price and sets such target price of corn at $2.00 per bushel for the 1977 crop, at $2.10 per bushel for 1978, and the 1979 through 1981 crops at the previous year's target price, adjusted to reflect changes in the average adjusted cost of production over the previous two to four years.

Substitutes, for the existing specified formulae for the determination of feed grain acreage allotments, a single general formula based on an allocation factor found by dividing the announced national feed grain acreage allotment by the number of harvested acres. Multiplies the allocation factor by the acreage of feed grain harvested on the farm in the current crop year to determine each farm's allotment.

=Title VI: Cotton= - Revises the cotton program's disaster payments and set aside provisions.

Revises the formula basis of the level for nonrecourse loans for the 1978 through 1981 crops. Directs the President to proclaim a special limited global import quota, subject to specified conditions, whenever the average price of Strict Low Middling one and one-sixteenth inch cotton exceeds a specified maximum. Sets the established price per pound of cotton at 110 percent of the loan level, or 51 cent per pound, whichever is less.

=Title VII: Rice= - Extends through 1981 specified provisions of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended by the Rice Production Act of 1975.

States that for the 1978 through 1981 crops: (1) the established price shall be the established price for the previous year's crop adjusted to reflect any change in specified costs; and (2) the loan level shall bear the same ratio to the loan rate for the preceding year's crop as the established price for each year bears to the established price for the preceding year's crop.

Requires that payments to cooperators planting not less than 90 percent of their allotment shall be based on the entire amount of such allotments. Requires that, beginning with the 1978 crop the $55,000 limitation on the total amount of payments to any eligible person shall be reduced 5 percent for each crop year from the limitation in effect for the previous crop year, never, though, below the limitation in effect for wheat, feed grains and cotton.

=Title VIII: Peanuts= - Peanut Production Act - Suspends, for the 1978 through 1981 crops, provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 relating to national marketing quotas and county acreage allotments.

Establishes an annual national acreage allotment for peanuts, not less than 1,610,000 acres. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to announce a minimum national poundage quota each year. Requires, for each farm, a farm yield determined according to a specified formula, a farm base production poundage and a farm poundage quota. Requires the Secretary to permit the sale, lease and transfer of acreage allotments, and prescribes the basis of such transfers.

Increases the penalty for the marketing of peanuts in excess of a farm's quota from 75 percent to 120 percent of the support price for quota peanuts. Establishes similar penalties for handlers marketing peanuts larger in quantity or higher in quality than the quota peanuts they should be acquiring. Allows the Commodity Credit Corporation to make available for domestic edible use peanuts owned or controlled by it, under specified pricing conditions.

Subjects all farmers engaged in peanut production to existing record and report requirements.

Establishes the price support of peanuts at not less than $420 per ton. Permits the Secretary to make warehouse storage loans available to designated area marketing associations of peanut producers.

=Title IX: Miscellaneous Commodity Provisions= - Establishes, for the 1977 through 1981 crops of wheat, feed grains and cotton, a minimum diversion of 55 percent of cropland acreage on summer fallow farms for summer fallow use.

Directs the Secretary to permit loan borrowers to extend repayment periods for additional twelve month terms under specified conditions. Prohibits the Commodity Credit Corporation from selling wheat or feed grain owned or controlled by it for less than 150 percent of the current loan level, with specified exceptions.

Authorizes the Secretary to administer a special program whereunder portions of wheat, feed grains or upland cotton farm acreage allotments shall be planted to wheat and used for grazing purposes or hay.

Directs the Secretary to set the loan level for any commodity at 100 percent of parity on any day the President of the United States or any other member of the executive branch, initiates a suspension of export sales of such commodity to any country or area with which the United States continues commercial trade.

Requires the Commodity Credit Corporation, under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, to make available loans not in excess of $50,000 for the construction or remodeling of farm storage facilities.

Directs the Secretary to make available to producers loans and purchases on each crop of soybeans at such level as he finds appropriate.

Requires that export sales of 100,000 metric tons or more of a commodity be reported to the Secretary by 3 P.M., eastern time, on the business day following the day of sale.

Restricts the importation of filbert nuts, whenever the Secretary issues a marketing order, to those filbert nuts that comply with the grade, size, quality and maturity provisions of the order.

Directs the Secretary to collect and analyze information and to report his conclusions and recommendations to the appropriate Congressional committees regarding the use of bushels of wheat and feed grains and pounds of rice as the basis for assigning allotments to producers of such commodities.

Directs the Secretary to establish a price support program for 1977 sugar beets and sugar cane.

Authorizes the Secretary to establish price supports for the 1978-1981 crops of soybeans, flaxseed, dry edible beans, gum naval stores and other non-basic commodities.

Adds sugar beets and sugar cane to the list of nonbasic commodities entitled to a specified level of support through loans and purchases.

Directs the Secretary to establish minimum wage rates for agricultural employees engaged in the production of sugar.

Limits the support program for sugar to two years.

Requires the Department of Agriculture to adopt milk content standards for ice cream.

Provides that the Secretary may establish, maintain, and dispose of a grain reserve of up to 35 million tons.

Amends the Golden Nematode Act to revise the activities contemplated by such Act.

=Title X: Rural Development and Conservation= - Extends the multi-year set aside provisions of the Agricultural Act of 1970, as amended, through 1981. Exempts major disaster areas from the prohibition of livestock grazing; but only if the Secretary finds there is a need for grazing as a result of such disaster.

Raises from $250,000 to $500,000 the maximum amount of the estimated Federal contribution to a project which must be exceeded, under the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, and the maximum amount of a loan for a resource conservation and development project under the Bankhead-Jones Tenant Act, before special Congressional and Executive Branch approval requirements must be met.

Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with owners and operators of land in the Great Plains area for the purpose of devoting up to 50 percent of a farm acreage to the planting of soil conserving cover crops. Specifies the terms of such agreements and provides for an annual adjustment payment to such owners or operators not in excess of $30 per acre.

Directs the Secretary to study and report to the appropriate Congressional committees on rural water programs.

Authorizes the appropriation of $7,000,000 for rural community fire protection for each of fiscal years 1978, 1979, and 1980.

Amends the Rural Development Act of 1972 to describe generally the content of small farm research and extension programs. Authorizes the appropriation for such programs of $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1978 and 1979; and specifies how such funds will be distributed. Requires the Secretary to file an annual report to Congress on such programs.

Allows the Farmers Home Administration to defer payments of principal and interest on emergency loans made to farmers in disaster situations.

=Title XI: Public Law 480= - Allows the Department of Agriculture to act as a purchasing agent for a foreign country for the purposes of Public Law 480 sales. Requires that purchases of commodities shall be financed under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 only on the basis of an invitation for bids publicly advertised in the United States. Requires the reporting to the Secretary of any fees paid by commodity suppliers or ocean transportation financed by the Commodity Credit Corporation to any representatives of the importer or the importing country.

States that assistance programs shall not be undertaken during any calendar year which call for an appropriation of more than $750,000,000 (currently, $600,000,000) to reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for all costs incurred in connection with such programs.

Allows disposition under the program of a commodity, which would reduce the domestic supply below that needed for domestic requirements, if the Secretary determines that some part of the supply should be used to carry out urgent humanitarian purposes.

Requires that in determining the reimbursement due the Commodity Credit Corporation for all costs incurred in connection with such programs, commodities acquired under a domestic price support program shall be valued at the export market price as of the time they were made available under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954.

Expresses the sense of Congress that there be no discrimination between "price-supported" and "non-price-supported" commodities in commodity programming under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act.

Requires the Secretary to submit a hunger impact statement for legislation concerning domestic and international food assistance programs to the Food for Peace program.

=Title XII: Food Stamps= - Food Stamp Act - Replaces the existing program with a new program substantially similar, but: (1) changes the purpose of the program from the provision of an opportunity to obtain a "nutritionally adequate diet" to provision of an opportunity to obtain a "more nutritious diet"; (2) drops the eligibility requirement that household members be related; (3) permits tribal councils to be designated "State agencies" with respect to Indian communities; (4) establishes the income guidelines for the nonfarm United States, prescribed by the Office of Management and Budget, adjusted annually, as the income standards of eligibility for the program; (5) specifies in the computation of household income: (a) a standard deduction of $60 a month for each household (allowing variable deductions for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), adjusted semiannually; (b) a tax and work expense deduction equal to 20 percent of all earned income; (c) an adjusted excess shelter deduction, not to exceed $75 in the 48 contiguous States (or variable amounts in the remaining States and territories), where the shelter costs exceed 50 percent of household income; and (d) a dependent care deduction, not to exceed $75 a month per household, for actual costs of necessary care of a dependent when such care enables a household member to accept employment or training or education preparatory to employment; (6) requires the calculation of household income to take into account, with specified exceptions, the income reasonably anticipated to be received by the household in the period for which eligibility is being determined; (7) allows a household to own liquid and nonliquid assets of up to $1500; or $2,250, if the household is two or more persons; or $3,000, if the household is two or more persons, one or whom is age 60 or over; (8) specifies inclusions in financial resources (e.g. boats, snowmobiles, recreational airplanes, vacation homes, mobile homes, licensed vehicles valued more than $4500); (9) denies eligibility, for a three-month period, to anyone found by a State agency to have fraudulently trafficked in coupons or authorization cards, or for six to 24 months to anyone found by a court to have fraudulently trafficked in such coupons or cards; (10) denies eligibility to any household which refuses to provide to the State agency information necessary for determining or reviewing its eligibility; (11) denies eligibility to: (a) any individual between ages 18 and 60 who refuses to register for work, to fulfill inquiry-about-employment requirements, to accept a job at a specified pay level, or who is a head of household and voluntarily quits work without good cause; (b) any individual age 18 or over, enrolled at least half-time in an institute of higher learning, who is properly claimed or could be claimed as a dependent child for Federal income tax purposes, or who during the regular school year is not employed at least 20 hours per week, does not earn a specified weekly minimum, is not registered for work amounting to at least 20 hours per week, is not a head of household providing half the support of the other members, nor is covered by any work exemption; (c) any illegal aliens, or legal alien visitors, tourists, diplomats, or students temporarily in the United States with no intention of abandoning home country residence; (12) exempts from ordinary eligibility requirements any person: (1) currently complying with specified work registration requirements; (b) who is employed a minimum of 30 hours per week or receiving weekly earnings at a specified rate; (13) requires monthly reports on each coupon issuer's operations containing an oath or affirmation certifying the information as true and correct to the best of the issuer's knowledge and belief; (14) imposes: (a) a $1,000 fine or one-year imprisonment upon any coupon issuer convicted of failing to file such a report; and (b) a $10,000 fine or five-year imprisonment upon any coupon issuer convicted of knowingly providing false information in such reports; (15) eliminates charges for coupon allotments and sets the value of an allotment at an amount equal to the cost to a household of the thrifty food plan reduced by an amount equal to 30 percent of the household's income; (16) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to report to Congress six months after the implementation of charges, and annually thereafter, on the effect on participation and cost of such elimination; (17) prohibits the authorization of any firm as a retail food store and as a wholesale food concern at the same time; (18) requires that private nonprofit cooperative food purchasing ventures be authorized to redeem their members' food coupons prior to receipt by the members of the food so purchased, and prohibits redemption of coupons through banks by private nonprofit organizations serving meals in drug addiction and alcoholic treatment programs; (20) prohibits discrimination by reason or sex in the certification of applicant households; (21) provides for the administration of the food stamp program on all or part of an Indian reservation or community by an Indian tribal organization; (22) requires each State agency to submit a plan of operation that must provide: (a) for action to inform low-income households of the program, including bilingual personnel and printed material; (b) that each household requesting food stamp assistance be permitted to file for assistance on the day of the request on a simplified uniform national application form; (c) that the determination of eligibility be made within 30 days; (d) that notices of expiration of certification be sent immediately prior to or at the start of the last month of a certification period, and that, assuming continuing eligibility, reapplication within 15 days of expiration ensure receipt of new allotment no later than one month after receipt of the last allotment under the prior certification; (e) that a nonmember of a household, if an adult conversant with its financial resources and circumstances, and if designated in writing, may represent such household in the certification process; (f) that applications for food stamps be contained in public or general assistance applications forms, and that certification be based, where appropriate, on information in the public or general assistance case file; (g) that households with income below the standard deduction level receive coupons on an expedited basis; (h) that households wrongfully denied any allotment or terminated have such allotments promptly restored; and (i) for distribution of emergency food stamps in a disaster situation; (23) directs the Extension Service to include food stamp recipients within its expanded food and nutrition education program; (24) requires the Secretary to promptly inform any State agency of any failure to comply with any provisions of this Act (currently, notification required only for substantial failure to comply); and allows the Secretary to refer cases of noncomplying State agencies to the Attorney General for suit for injunctive relief; (25) requires a State to indemnify the United States Treasury for mere negligence in the certification of households (currently, the standard is gross negligence); (26) authorizes the Secretary, in conjunction with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, to issue regulations allowing recipients of social security benefits or of supplemental security income to apply for food stamps at social security offices; (27) requires post offices to issue food stamps upon request by a State agency; (28) permits the payment of a 'nutritional supplement," equal to the value of a coupon allotment, in lieu of an allotment to an eligible household of which every member is either over 65, or is eligible: (a) for a supplemental security income under title XV of the Social Security Act or (b) for grants to the blind or disabled in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; (29) permits the Secretary to collect a civil money penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation any approved retail food store or wholesale food concern is found to have made, if outright disqualification of such store or concern would cause hardship to food stamp households; (30) reduces the fine for misdemeanor violations of this Act from $5,000 to $1,000; (31) authorizes the Secretary to pay up to 75 percent of all costs of State program investigations, prosecutions, and other activities related to recovering losses; (32) authorizes the Secretary, effective fiscal year 1979, to adjust the Federal share of a State agency's administrative costs: (a) to 60 percent if the agency's cumulative allotment error rate is between five and ten percent; and (b) to 65 percent, if the rate is less than five percent; (33) requires each State not receiving an increased Federal share to submit a quality control plan specifying proposed actions to reduce the incidence of errors and of invalid decisions in certifying or denying eligibility; (34) directs the Secretary to make contracts or grants for research that will help improve the administration and effectiveness of the food stamp program; (35) authorizes pilot or experimental projects to test program changes (e.g. the use of countersignature of coupons or similar identification mechanisms); (36) directs the Secretary: (a) to implement a pilot project jointly with the Secretary of Labor involving the performance of work in return for food stamp benefits; (b) to study and develop alternative poverty line definitions at different levels; (c) to conduct a feasibility study, through the use of Federal income tax data of a program to recover food stamp benefits from members of eligible households (on a voluntary basis only) in which the adjusted gross income of members of such households for a calendar year may exceed twice the established income poverty guidelines; (37) directs the Secretary to develop and implement measures for evaluating the effectiveness of the food stamp program in achieving its stated objectives; (37) directs the Secretary to purchase sufficient agricultural commodities to maintain the traditional level of assistance for food distribution programs; and (39) authorizes the appropriation of $5,847,600,000 in fiscal 1978, $6,158,900,000 in 1979, $6,188,600,000 in 1980, and $6,235,900,000 in 1981, to carry out the provisions of this Act.

=Title XIII: National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act= - National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act - Designates the Department of Agriculture as the lead Federal agency for agricultural research, extension and teaching in the food and agricultural sciences.

Establishes within the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology a Subcommittee on Food and Renewable Resources to review Federal research and development programs relevant to world food and fiber production and distribution, to promote planning and coordination of this research in the Federal Government and to recommend policies and measures concerning food and agricultural science for the consideration of the Council.

Establishes a Joint Council on Food and Agricultural Sciences to foster coordination of the research, extension and teaching activities of the Federal Government, the States, colleges and universities and other public and private institutions and persons involved in the food and agricultural sciences.

Requires the Secretary to submit to the President and the Congress an annual report containing an annually updated five-year national agricultural research plan and a review of specified categories of research, extension and teaching activities of the Department and their relationship to the related activities of other Federal, State and private agencies.

Establishes within the Department an Agricultural, Research, Extension and Teaching Policy Advisory Board. States that the Board's responsibilities shall include: (1) reviewing programs, policies, plans and goals of food and agricultural research agencies; (2) providing a forum for research- sponsoring agencies to exchange information on programs relating to food and agriculture; (3) reviewing and consulting on national policies, priorities and strategies for food and agricultural research, extension and teaching; and (4) assessing the overall adequacy of and making recommendations to the Secretary regarding the distribution of resources.

Directs the Secretary to establish a program of competitive grants for agricultural research to be made to individual scientists for research in specified categories. Requires the Secretary to give priority to research in those fields of basic and applied science promising advances and breakthroughs. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for up to five year's duration for such research to land-grant colleges, and universities, and to State agricultural experiment stations and to all colleges and universities having a demonstrable capacity in agricultural research.

Directs the Secretary to make grants for research related to the production and marketing of industrial hydrocarbons derived from agricultural commodities and forest products. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program of four pilot projects for the production and marketing of such hydrocarbons by guaranteeing loans not to exceed $15,000,000 per project to public, private or cooperative organizations.

Authorizes the Secretary to appoint a Committee on Agricultural Research Facilities to assist the Secretary in the compilation of a report to the President and the Congress on the status and future needs of specified agricultural research materials and facilities. Directs the Secretary to make grants to eligible institutions for the construction or improvement of agricultural research facilities. Authorizes specified appropriations for such grants for fiscal years 1978 through 1982.

Authorizes the Secretary to cooperate with and assist the States in carrying out programs of animal disease research at eligible institutions. Directs that funds appropriated for such purposes be apportioned according to a specified formula.

Directs the Secretary to conduct a program of grants to States for the purpose of meeting the costs of construction, employing faculty, and acquiring equipment to establish schools of veterinary medicine.

Directs the Secretary to conduct a program of competitive grants and fellowships for merit to strengthen undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral research in the food and agricultural sciences.

Establishes a National Agricultural Research Award, consisting of a grant not to exceed $50,000 per year for a period of not more than three years to support research or study by: (1) a scientist in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advance of agricultural science; and (2) a graduate student or post-doctoral research worker in recognition of demonstrated capability and promise.

Authorizes appropriations to support agricultural research and continuing agricultural and forestry extension at 1890 land grant colleges and universities and Tuskegee Institute.

Directs the cooperative extension services to give increasing attention to education programs for the preservation of the family farm system, human nutrition, energy conservation, forestry and natural resources, and animal disease and health care, and water conservation.

Requires the Secretary to evaluate for the Congress the economic and social consequences of the programs of the Extension Service and the cooperative extension services.

Permits the Department to expand its operational coordination with agricultural research and education activities around the world.

Directs the Secretary to conduct a comprehensive study of the effects of changing climate and weather on crop and livestock productivity.

Directs the Secretary to conduct and submit to the Congress and the President, a report concerning the feasibility of using organic waste materials to improve soil Tilth and fertility.

Establishes with the National Agricultural Library a Food and Nutrition Information and Education Resources Center which shall be responsible for collecting and maintaining food and nutrition education materials.

Repeals the existing requirement that at least 20 percent of grant funds distributed to the States be used by State agricultural experiment stations for marketing research.

Transfers the administration of additional appropriations for agricultural colleges from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to the Department of Agriculture.

Authorizes the appropriation of specified sums for specified existing and new programs under this Title, for fiscal years 1978 through 1982.

=Title XIV: Agricultural Solar Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act= - Agricultural Solar Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act - Amends the Bankhead-Jones Act of 1935 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct and to stimulate research and development relating to uses of solar energy with respect to farm buildings, farm homes and farm machinery. Authorizes the appropriation of $25,000,000 each fiscal year to carry out such research and development. Includes the agricultural uses of solar energy in the agricultural extension programs. Directs that loans, under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, be made for the purchase of farm equipment which utilizes solar energy and for the acquisition and installation of any qualified solar energy thermal conversion system in any residential structure located on a family farm.

Establishes within the Department of Agriculture an Advisory Committee which shall be responsible for compiling a list of solar energy research projects and for meeting with regional representatives of the State departments of agriculture to determine which projects will be useful and beneficial to the several States.

Requires each State department of agriculture to establish one large model farm and after two years to establish not less than ten demonstrations of solar energy research projects using the most efficient or practicable research projects demonstrated on such model farm. Stipulates the terms of any agreement entered into between selected farmowners and the State departments of agriculture for the establishment of such demonstration projects.

Authorizes the appropriation of $20,000,000 for the purposes of this Title.

Provides for the establishment of at least three, but no more than five, regional solar energy research centers.

=Title XV: Federal Grain Inspection= - Grants to the Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service, under the United States Grain Standards Act of 1976, discretion as to the transactions and processes about which he shall require agencies and persons subject to the official inspection or weighing of grain to maintain complete and accurate records.

Reduces the amount of fees paid for inspection or weighing from 100 percent to 50 percent of the costs of direct inspection or weighing, or the direct supervision of personnel performing such functions, by the field office personnel of the Federal Grain Inspection Service.

Establishes a temporary advisory committee to provide advice to the Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service with respect to the implementation of the Grain Standards Act of 1976.

Excludes persons operating under a contract with the Service from performing appeal inspections or weighings at Canadian ports. Permits the Secretary of Agriculture to delegate authority to the Service to perform related functions for grain and similar commodities and products thereof under other statutes administered by the Department of Agriculture.

Amends specified provisions of the United States Grain Standards Act of 1976 to: (1) delete the general exception to the provision limiting the number of official agencies for inspection or weighing to one for any geographic area; (2) authorize the administrator to make exceptions to the general prohibition against the inspection by an official agency of grain samples not physically located within the geographical area assigned to such agency; and (3) provide for the collection of reasonable fees to cover the estimated costs to the Service incident to the testing of inspection and weighing equipment. Prohibits any person from knowingly making any false representation that any weighing service under such Act has been performed.

Extends the deadline dates for submission to the appropriate Committees of Congress of reports on specified studies being conducted regarding the present grain inspection and weighing system.

Directs the Administrator to consider certain factors relating to a possible conflict of interest before delegating authority to perform an official inspection or supervision of weighing under the Act.

=Title XVI: Effective Date= - States that this Act shall become effective on October 1, 1977, except where otherwise specified.