12/29/08 Moving forward on farm bill implementation

Farm and Ranch December 29, 2008 The USDA recently announced the start of up sign up for 2009 Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment Program, which is open now and runs to the deadline of June 1st 2009. Producers are urged to make use of the eDCP automated website to sign up; however producers can visit their local USDA Service Center to complete their 2009 DCP contract. Eligible producers can receive advance direct payments based on 22 percent of the direct payment for each commodity associated with the farm. The 2009 direct payment for wheat is 52 cents a bushel, for barley its 24 cents and for oilseeds other than soybeans its 80 cents a hundredweight. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer has also now made it official that the base years for the ACRE program will be the 2007 and 2008 crop years. Schafer: "You know there was some controversy there. Some members of congress had one intent. Other members of congress told us they had a different intent, and CBO scored it in different years. So, as we plowed through that we felt that as you go through the next marketing year we really don't know what the prices are going to be or not be, and so while we deliver that program in October of 09, we just felt in the end the proper bases years were the 07 and 08 crops." The ACRE program is optional, but a decision to enroll is irrevocable. That sign up will begin in the spring. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.