Cannon County FSA Accepting DCP/ACRE Enrollment

The Cannon County Farm Service Agency can now begin accepting enrollment contracts for the 2011 Direct/Counter Cyclical Program (DCP) and/or the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program.

The DCP/ACRE programs have been in effect since the passage of the 2008 Farm Bill and expire on September 30, 2012.  Producers may begin to enroll for the 2011 programs and complete crop reports for fall-seeding crops.  In order to allow field work in the spring, producers are encouraged to start the enrollment process now to get some of the paperwork behind them.

FSA computes DCP Program payments using base acres and payment yields established for each farm.  Eligible producers receive direct payments at rates established by statute regardless of market prices.

For 2011, contract holders may request to receive advance direct payments based on 22 percent of the direct payment for each commodity associated with the farm.  Advance direct payments can be made in any month between January and September. Counter-cyclical payment rates vary depending on market prices and are issued only when the effective price for a commodity is statutorily set below its target price.  

The Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program; is an alternative revenue based safety net to the price-based safety net provided by counter-cyclical payments for crop years 2009 through 2012.

Producer must first irrevocably elect ACRE.  ACRE provides producers an option to protect against declines in market revenue. ACRE involves state and farm revenue changes from guarantee revenue levels that are based on national prices, state planted yields, and farm planted yields.

ACRE payments are tied to current plantings on the farm as opposed to counter-cyclical payments, which are tied to the farm’s base acres.

To be eligible for ACRE payments, owners, operators, landlords, tenants, or sharecroppers must have base acres on the farm; share in the risk of producing a crop on base acres on a farm enrolled in ACRE; annually report the use of the farm’s cropland acreage and submit production reports; comply with conservation and wetland protection requirements on all of their land; comply with planting flexibility requirements; and use the base acres for agricultural or related activities.

The final date to enroll in the 2011 DCP program and the ACRE program is June 1, 2011.

For additional information please visit the Cannon County Farm Service Agency service center located at 740 Old McMinnville Road during regular business hours of 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office phone number is (615) 563-4321, extension 2.