Federal law mandates support for farmers through various programs, including direct payments. USDA, through its Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), calculates direct payments using a formula that factors in "base acres," a measure of a farm's crop production history based on the number of acres planted on the farm during certain past years. The term base acres refers to a farm's average planted acreage of specific crops during those years; the term does not refer to specific physical acres on that farm.