FSA Andy for Oct. 30, 2008

Hello again, friends!

Are you familiar with that phrase “the more things change, the more they stay the same?” Sometimes I think that is never truer than when working with your Farm Service Agency office.

Change seems to be our middle name, yet many of the changes we make seem to take us right back to the same area where we started.

The Direct and Countercyclical Base Program (DCP) is the latest program to be changed on the fly. No, we are not going back to set-aside acres (as far as I know). This latest change is one I am sure many of you have heard about, which involves farms with 10 acres of base or less.

Recent legislation has been passed which makes farms with 10 acres of base or less eligible for a DCP payment for the 2008 crop year. Producers who did not complete sign-up on these farms earlier in the year are being given an opportunity at this time to get them enrolled. All farms with 10 acres of total base or less are having the enrollment period extended to Nov. 26.

All contracts must be initiated and completed by this date to be approved for the 2008 crop year. This extension applies to farms with 10 acres of base or less only, and will not be available on farms with greater than 10 acres not enrolled by the Sept. 30 deadline.

In addition to this, farms with 10 acres of DCP base or less which do not have a crop report filed for the 2008 crop year may also file one with no late-filing fee. This late-filing fee waiver does not apply if the crop acreage report is needed for other programs.

Producers will have until Dec. 1 to complete their acreage reports for farms meeting this definition in order to avoid this late-file charge. DCP contracts on farms with 10 acres or less of base that were enrolled prior to this rule change for this year are still acceptable for 2008.

These contracts will not have to be revised as long as they meet program signature requirements. This rule change has been put in place for the 2008 crop year only.

For 2009, FSA will again be operating under the 10 acre or less base rule, unless future policy or regulation changes are made. Be sure to contact your local FSA office if you are not sure about your filing status on these farms. Stay safe as harvest continues!

That’s all for now,

FSA Andy