Waiting on details of the farm program

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I have always felt October was an exciting time of the year. The weather cools down, fall colors start appearing, crop harvest is usually in full swing, football season is well underway, and this year the Cubs are still playing baseball. Also, during this time of year, farmers, like any business, are already preparing for the next year. Besides making crop decisions for next spring, one of the items farmers address this time of year is an evaluation of the USDA programs, and if participating in those programs could benefit their farming operation. This decision making process has been made a little more difficult this year due to the late passage of the 2008 Farm Bill. Some program policy decisions have yet to be finalized in Washington, and it may be closer to the end of 2008 or the first part of 2009 before those important program details are available.

With the passage of our current farm bill earlier this year, producers requesting benefits face tighter income restrictions in 2009 to remain eligible to receive program benefits. New policy is still being determined for most programs; however, one area of interest has been changes affecting the Direct Counter-Cyclical Payment (DCP) program. The DCP program, first introduced in the 2002 Farm Bill, offers benefits to producers on their farms in return for following conservation plans written for their specific farm and maintaining their cropland in a satisfactory manner to prevent erosion and weed problems. Benefits received through the DCP program are identified as direct payments and counter-cyclical payments. Direct payment rates have been set through the life of the farm bill; however, counter-cyclical payments are issued only during times of low commodity prices. In 2009, farmers will have the choice of potentially receiving counter-cyclical benefits or selecting a revenue based counter-cyclical payment as an alternative to the regular counter-cyclical payment. This option is identified as A.C.R.E. (average crop revenue election). Basic provisions of the A.C.R.E. program are known, but the details are still being hammered out.

One of the components used in determining payment amounts on farms is the crop base acres that were assigned to the farm by Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) years ago. These base acres are frozen for the majority of crops and cannot currently be adjusted. Once the 2008 Farm Bill was approved, and enrollment into the 2008 DCP program began last June, county FSA offices and farmers soon discovered new language in the farm bill, intended as a cost saving measure, made farms with 10 base acres or less ineligible for payment unless the owner qualified as a limited resource farmer or socially disadvantaged farmer. This change raised objections with producers and left them questioning the logic of such a rule. Congress insists this restriction was not their intention when the farm bill was drafted and approved. USDA says they are only implementing the program as written by Congress. I understand this dilemma; it sounds similar to conversations I often have with my two young daughters. Congress has since acted to repeal implementation of this provision, at least for the 2008 program year. County FSA offices soon hope to know the options available to producers with 10 or less base acre farms who chose not to enroll their farms during the sign-up period because they thought they were ineligible for benefits.

Even though all details about many of the 2009 USDA programs have not fully been determined, I am hopeful this information will soon become available. In the meantime, I am wishing all the farmers in Bureau County a safe harvest season.

Brad W. Powelson is the CED of the Farm Service Agency in Bureau County.