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Texas Agriculture Archive

March 7, 2003

Base, yield selections due

With the April 1 deadline fast approaching, producers who have yet to sign up for the direct and counter-cyclical programs in the 2002 Farm Bill need to contact their local USDA Service Center as soon as possible to review program details and options.

Under the new provisions recently announced by USDA, the county committee can now establish a yield for producers who did not own eligible land in prior years and/or did not farm the land and cannot obtain historical production evidence. That yield will be based on similar farms in the local farming community or the LDP records for the specific farm. The assigned yield from the similar farms cannot exceed the county average yield.

Those steps should assist those landowners who are unable to obtain production evidence to prove yields for their program payments. The inability to obtain this information may be because the landowner has recently purchased a farm or part of a farm and historical production evidence cannot be obtained from the previous producer. This change will be applicable to counter-cyclical yields for those producers electing to update their bases for eligible commodities, and for direct payment yields for oilseeds.

Prior to these revisions, producers applying for these programs would have had to accept 75 percent of the county average yield. Those farmers who have already accepted the 75 percent county average may also take advantage of this new procedure by contacting their local USDA Service Center.

To participate in direct and counter-cyclical program, owners must make the base and yield selection by April 1, 2003. Producers must sign the direct and counter-cyclical program contract by June 2, 2003. Producers who do not want to accept the program's default base and yield option must complete sign-up at the county office before April 1, 2003.