This year, all Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) annual rental payments, as well as 2009 final Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program payments are being batch processed and mailed by National Payment Services (NPS) in Kansas City. The local FSA office no longer mails your payment statements; however, local FSA staff must certify correctness of payment amounts being released for Electronic Funds Transfer, as well as monitor every participant's eligibility status before release of payments.
To date, processing is complete on around 85-90 percent of the annual CRP payments and a similar percentage of the final DCP direct payments. Those payments, not yet completed will take some time to get individually processed for various reasons, not limited to change of ownership, type of farming operation, and issues with eligibility paperwork, etc.
If, early this year you had received advance DCP (22 percent), this amount is being adjusted (subtracted) from the total DCP direct earnings for each farm. Payment statements will reflect only those deposited amounts and all county FSA offices have not been on the exact same schedule. In other words, if you are a multi county participant, your payments may be processed in different batches. One county's advances may be subtracted from a different county's final DCP payments.
There are several known problems and some unknown problems with the remaining payments, which will be completed as soon as possible. Please wait until after the first week of November to make inquiries. If you have a missing payment, now it could be one of those presently being corrected. If you usually get direct deposit and you are receiving a check, please let the office know, since some direct deposits were dropped with the new payment system, especially direct deposits for multi-county customers. These direct deposits will need to be reinstated. Thanks for your patience with this new method for making USDA farm program payments.
The county FSA staff is very busy with the following program activity underway:
Final 2009 DCP Payments Released. Producers enrolled in 2009 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) can expect to receive their final direct payment made by direct deposit sometime during October. Payments are no longer issued directly by the local county office and a transaction statement will be mailed to the producer detailing each payment issued.
2009 Annual CRP Payments Issued. Annual Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payments are being issued in October by direct deposit to producers enrolled in General CRP, Continuous CRP, and Lake Erie CREP. Payment statements will be sent from the Kansas City Financial Center in plain white envelopes.
2008 SURE Signup Coming Soon. Training is currently underway for accepting applications for the 2008 SUpplemental REvenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE). Signup for this new permanent disaster program is expected to begin after harvest, with no specific dates announced at this time.
2009 Commodity Loans Available. Marketing Assistance Loans are available for 2009 crop year commodities. Wyandot County loan rate for corn is $1.94/bushel and $5.12/bushel for soybeans. October interest rate is 1.375 percent. Please plan a week ahead and schedule an appointment.
Reporting Failed or Prevented Planted Acres. Failed acreage must be reported within 15 days of the disaster event and before disposition of the crop. Prevented planting must be reported no later than 15 days after the final planting date.
2010 Grassed Waterway Plans. Seventy-five percent cost share assistance is available and annual payments for 10 years apply for producers who wish to install an approved grassed waterway. Producers are encouraged to initiate an application now if you plan to install a waterway in 2010.
2010 DCP/ACRE Signup is Underway. Enrollment for the 2010 DCP/ACRE has begun and will continue until June 1, 2010. Producers may request an advance equal to 22 percent of the direct payment beginning Tuesday, Dec. 1. No advance is issued for the ACRE election option.
