85R3570 BEF-D
By: Burrows H.B. No. 338
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to acreage contracts and quantity contracts for the
purchase of agricultural products.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Producer Protection
Act.
SECTION 2. Subtitle D, Title 5, Agriculture Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 104 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 104. ACREAGE CONTRACTS AND QUANTITY CONTRACTS
Sec. 104.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Acreage contract" means a contract that requires
a producer to deliver to a purchaser all of the production of a
specified agricultural product grown on land described in the
contract. The term does not include a contract that requires a
producer to deliver a specified quantity of an agricultural
product.
(2) "Producer" means a person who produces an
agricultural product and sells the product under an acreage
contract or a quantity contract.
(3) "Purchaser" means a person who purchases an
agricultural product under an acreage contract or a quantity
contract.
(4) "Quantity contract" means a contract that requires
a producer to deliver to a purchaser a specified quantity of an
agricultural product, regardless of the amount of the product grown
by the producer.
Sec. 104.002. CONTRACT TYPE DISCLOSURE. A contract between
a producer and a purchaser regarding an agricultural product must
clearly and conspicuously state on its face that it is an acreage
contract or a quantity contract, as applicable.
Sec. 104.003. PRODUCER'S ESTIMATE FOR ACREAGE CONTRACT;
PREREQUISITE TO SUIT BY PURCHASER. (a) A purchaser may request from
a producer information supporting the producer's estimate of
production under an acreage contract.
(b) A purchaser may not file suit against a producer based
on inaccuracies in the producer's estimate of production under an
acreage contract unless the purchaser makes a written request for
information under Subsection (a) not later than the 30th day after
the date the acreage contract is executed.
SECTION 3. Chapter 104, Agriculture Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a contract executed on or after the effective
date of this Act. A contract executed before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect when the contract was
executed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.