WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2015 - Some producers with farms in
more than one county could be getting more money from USDA under the
Agriculture Risk Coverage program. The Farm Service Agency has agreed to change
the way ARC payments were calculated for 2014 and 2015.
Under rules that FSA has been using, ARC payments
were calculated based solely on the payment rate in a grower’s “administrative”
county, the county where the producer’s records are handled by FSA. That rule
wound up costing producers money if other counties where their tracts were
located had higher payment rates than the administrative county.
According to a memo
sent to staff offices, FSA will allow payments to be recalculated based on
the payment rate in each county where a grower has farms. Under an example
provided in the memo, a farm’s payment could vary by thousands of dollars when
recalculated according to the county where the tract is located, rather than the
administrative county.
The National Corn Growers Association applauded the
change. “Although NCGA has learned the number of farms not located in their
administrative county represent a small percentage nationwide, the potential
for variation in payments can be very significant,” the group said.
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