USDA to Survey for Crop Production

From the USDA
 
As the 2016 growing season comes to an end, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will contact producers nationwide to gather final year-end crop production numbers and the amount of grain and oilseed they store
on their farms.
 
At the same time, the statistics service will survey grain facility operators to determine year-end off-farm grain and oilseed stocks.
 
“These surveys are the largest and most important year-end surveys conducted by NASS,” explained New York State Statistician Blair Smith. “They are the basis for the official USDA estimates of production and harvested acres of all major agricultural commodities in the United States and year-end grain and oilseed supplies.”
 
“Data from the survey will benefit farmers and processors by providing timely and accurate information to help them make crucial year-end business decisions and begin planning for the next growing and marketing season,” Smith said.
 
The information will be compiled, analyzed and then published in a series of USDA reports, including the Crop Production Annual Summary and quarterly Grain Stocks report to be released Jan. 12.
 
“Responses to the survey will be used in calculating county yields,” Smith said. “USDA uses county yield information from the survey to evaluate and administer vital farm disaster mitigation and insurance programs such as Price Loss Coverage and Agricultural Risk Coverage.”
 
“Farmers who receive this survey are not included in the County Agricultural Production Survey, therefore this is their only opportunity to be included in the calculation of New York’s county yields,” Smith said.

NY Farmers To Receive Assistance for Crop Price Losses

From the USDA Farm Service Agency

The U.S. Department of Agriculture New York State Farm Service Agency Executive Director James Barber says a majority of New York farms that enrolled in safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill will receive financial assistance for the 2015 crop year. 

The programs, known as Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, are designed to protect against unexpected drops in crop prices or revenues due to market downturns.

“These safety-net programs provide help when price and revenues fall below normal, unlike the previous direct payments program that provided funds even in good years,” said Barber. “These payments will help provide reassurance to New York farm families, who are standing strong against low commodity prices compounded by unfavorable growing conditions. 

"For example, 55 counties in New York state harvest corn, and 51 have experienced a drop in price below the benchmark price established by the Agriculture Risk Coverage program. Payments will also be made in most counties to producers of oats, soybeans and wheat,” Barber said.

“Payments by county can vary because average county yields will differ,” he said.  

Statewide, 17,577 farms participated in Agriculture Risk Coverage and 931 farms participated in Price Loss Coverage.  

More details on the price and yield information used to calculate the financing assistance from the safety-net programs is available on the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc and
www.fsa.usda.gov/ny.

University Does Study on Farmers Coverage Choices

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is conducting a study to learn more about farmers' and land owners' decision processes.

Researchers will be looking at the tools and resources used by producers when they make Agriculture Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage programs choices.

About 1.7 million agricultural producers have enrolled in the new safety-net programs authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, known as the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. 

The 2014 Farm Bill also authorized USDA to work with qualified universities to conduct outreach and education on the new programs, and to develop web-based tools to help producers with understanding the options offered by ARC and PLC before making their selection. 

Participation in the study will assist the University of Illinois on how its USDA-funded decision tool assisted with your selection of ARC or PLC, where the tool was helpful, or where the tool needs improvement. 

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the academic institutions involved in developing the educational tools for the programs.

Participation in the study is voluntary and confidential.  Any data collected by the university will be averaged and reported in aggregate only. Individual information and responses will not be made public.

To participate in the study, click on this link --  http://go.illinois.edu/2014farmbillsurvey

Farm Owners to Receive Safety-Net Payments

From the USDA:

The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that beginning Monday, Oct. 26, nearly one half of the 1.7 million farms that signed up for either the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs will receive safety-net payments for the 2014 crop year.

"Unlike the old direct payments program, which paid farmers in good years and bad, the 2014 Farm Bill authorized a new safety-net that protects producers only when market forces or adverse weather cause unexpected drops in crop prices or revenues,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. 

“For example, the corn price for 2014 is 30 percent below the historical benchmark price used by the ARC-County program, and revenues of the farms participating in the ARC-County program are down by about $20 billion from the benchmark during the same period," Vilsack said. "The nearly $4 billion provided today by the ARC and PLC safety-net programs will give assistance to producers where revenues dropped below normal."

The ARC/PLC programs primarily allow producers to continue to produce for the market by making payments on a percentage of historical base production, limiting the impact on production decisions.

Nationwide, 96 percent of soybean farms, 91 percent of corn farms and 66 percent of wheat farms elected the ARC-County coverage option. Ninety-nine percent of long grain rice and peanut farms, and 94 percent of medium grain rice farms elected the PLC option. 


Crops receiving assistance include barley, corn, grain sorghum, lentils, oats, peanuts, dry peas, soybeans and wheat. In the upcoming months, disbursements will be made for other crops after marketing year average prices are published by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

Deadline is April 7 for Choosing Crop Safety-Net Programs

News from the USDA:

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today provided farm owners and producers one additional week, until April 7, to choose between Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), the safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill.

The final day to update yield history or reallocate base acres also will be April 7. 

Nearly 98 percent of owners already have updated yield and base acres, and 90 percent of producers have enrolled in ARC or PLC.  

This additional week will give producers a more time to have those final conversations, review their data, visit their local Farm Service Agency offices to make decisions.
If no changes are made to yield history or base acres by the deadline, the farm's current yield and base acres will be used. If a program choice of ARC or PLC is not made, there will be no 2014 crop year payments for the farm and the farm will default to PLC coverage for the 2015 through 2018 crop years. 

Producers who have an appointment at their local Farm Service Agency offices scheduled by April 7 will be able to make an election between ARC and PLC, even if their actual appointment is after April 7.
These safety-net programs provide important financial protection against unexpected changes in the marketplace.  

Online tools, available at www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc, allow producers to explore how ARC or PLC coverage will affect their operation. 
Covered commodities under ARC and PLC include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice (which includes short grain and sweet rice), safflower seed, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
Producers need to contact the Farm Service Agency by April 7. To learn more, farmers can contact their local Farm Service Agency county office. To find local offices, visit http://offices.usda.gov.