U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA will not issue final 2008 counter-cyclical payments to those producers enrolled in the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program for peanuts, corn, grain sorghum, soybeans and oats. Commodity prices averaged above the levels that trigger payments. The final marketing year prices are 23-cents per pound for peanuts, $4.06 per bushel for corn, $3.20 per bushel for grain sorghum and $9.97 per bushel for soybeans. USDA will issue payments for upland cotton. The final counter-cyclical payment rate is $12.58 per pound.
USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service will announce long-grain and medium and short-grain rice prices on Jan. 29. No final counter-cyclical payments are expected as the preliminary market year average prices for the crop announced on Aug. 31 far exceeded their respective effective prices.