WASHINGTON — Approximately 255 million base acres on about 1.7 million farms were enrolled in the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program and in the Average Crop Revenue Election program.
Direct payments
USDA will issue nearly $4 billion in 2009 final direct payments to eligible producers on approved contracts. Producers have already received advance payments of approximately $900 million.
“The sign-up numbers demonstrate that producers value having the option of two programs from which to choose the greatest benefit to their individual farming operation,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “I also want to remind all producers that 2010 sign up for Direct and Counter-cyclical Program and Average Crop Revenue Election has already started and the deadline is June 1, 2010.”
Producers who signed up their farm under Direct and Counter-cyclical Program are eligible for direct payments, counter-cyclical payments and marketing assistance commodity loans.
Alternative
The optional Average Crop Revenue Election program, added under the 2008 farm bill, is an alternative revenue-based safety net to the price-based safety net provided by counter-cyclical payments for crop years 2009 through 2012.
Producers participating in the Average Crop Revenue Election program are also eligible for direct payments and marketing assistance loans, but direct payments are reduced by 20 percent and the loan rate is reduced by 30 percent with respect to covered commodities and peanuts on a farm.
This was the first year of the Average Crop Revenue Election program and approximately 8 percent of the total number of farms enrolled in the 2009 Direct and Counter-cyclical Program and Average Crop Revenue Election programs elected to participate in Average Crop Revenue Election, representing nearly 13 percent of the base acres.
Corn is highest
Of the 22 different crops eligible for enrollment, corn had the highest number of base acres enrolled, followed by wheat and soybeans, and producers mainly planted these three crops.
The states with the largest number of base acres enrolled are Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota.
Ohio
ACRE Farm Count 5,683
DCP Farm Count 84,762
Total Farm Count 90,445
ACRE Base Acres 819,596
DCP Base Acres 7,378,064
Total Base Acres 8,197,659
Pennsylvania
ACRE Farm Count 647
DCP Farm Count 25,309
Total Farm Count 25,956
ACRE Base Acres 50,086
DCP Base Acres 1,134,548
Total Base Acres 1,184,634
U.S.
ACRE Farm Count 128,620
DCP Farm Count 1,541,326
Total Farm Count 1,669,946
ACRE Base Acres 32,528,628
DCP Base Acres 222,044,292
Total Base Acres 254,572,919
