USDA Monday said it has begun distributing Conservation Reserve Program annual rental payments and will distribute 2013 direct payments and 2012 Average Crop Revenue Election program payments beginning Oct. 24.

Payments were scheduled to be issued earlier in the month, but were delayed by the government shutdown.

USDA will provide CRP payments on almost 700,000 CRP contracts on 390,000 farms covering 26.8 million acres. Direct payments for 2013 for the DCP and ACRE programs are being made to more than 1.7 million farms.

Payments scheduled to go out earlier this month now back on track

ACRE payments for 2012-crop barley, corn, grain sorghum, lentils, oats, peanuts, dry peas, soybeans, and wheat are scheduled to be released beginning Oct. 24 and contingent upon national average market prices and yields in each state.  ACRE payments for upland cotton are scheduled to be made in early November, after the 2012-2013 average market year price is published in the Agricultural Prices publication scheduled to be released on October 31. 

ACRE payments for large chickpeas, small chickpeas, canola, crambe, flaxseed, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower, sesame, and sunflowers are scheduled to be made in early December, after the 2012-13 average market year price is published in the Agricultural Prices publication scheduled to be released on November 27. 

ACRE payments for long grain and medium and short grain rice are scheduled to be made in early February 2014 after the final 2012-13 average market year price is published in the Agricultural Prices publication scheduled to be released on January 31, 2014.

The 2008 Farm Bill extension, enacted last year, provided authority to enroll land in DCP, ACRE and CRP through Sept. 30, 2013, however, no legislation has been enacted to reauthorize or extend this authority.

USDA reminds growers that effective Oct. 1, 2013, FSA no longer has legislative authority to approve or process applications for these programs.

For more information, visit www.fsa.usda.gov.

Source: USDA