104-127) — allowed farmers who had participated in the wheat, feed grain, cotton, and rice programs in any one of the five years prior to 1996 to enter into seven-year production flexibility contracts for 1996-2002.
The AMTA allowed farmers to plant 100% of their total contract acreage to any crop except fruits and vegetables, and receive a full payment.
Unlimited haying and grazing and planting and harvesting alfalfa and other forage crops was permitted with no reduction in payments.
These percentages were based on CBO’s February 1995 baseline forecast of what deficiency payments would have been if provisions in effect for the 1995 crop had been extended.
Farmers had near total planting flexibility on the contract acres (the exception being fruits and vegetables) as well as on the remainder of the farm.