FSA still working through late payments

Washington Ag Today January 18, 2010 The USDA’s switch to a new computer and software system this past year created problems for the Farm Service Agency getting out payments to farmers for various federal programs.

Blankenship: “On my own farm I have yet to receive CRP contract payments that were due in October.”

And that’s the President of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers Brett Blankenship.

State FSA Executive Director Judy Olson told a meeting of the Spokane Agribusiness Council Friday that the computer glitches in Kansas City meant 90 percent of producers across the nation who were supposed to get payments got them but ten percent got nothing, with no explanation as to why.

Olson: “We have worked through that and we are at about the 96 to 98% in our state. That is very good and I think we are very close to that nationwide. Most of the outstanding ones are payments that really do have a problem with them. Either the producer hasn’t gotten the appropriate information in and it has gotten a chance to get into the computer. They have made some changes in their operations that didn’t get recorded in a timely manner.”

Olson expressed pride in the work county FSA office employees did to correct the late payment problem.

Olson: “And I also have to say I am very proud of our producers. They were in stressful situations and for the most part they were exceedingly patient with the system.”

The payment problem came at the same time county FSA employees were learning new a Farm Bill and explaining that to growers who faced deadlines for various program sign ups.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.