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USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced that
beginning today, nearly one half of the 1.7 million farms that signed up for
either the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC)
programs will receive safety-net payments for the 2014 crop year.
Unlike the old direct payments program, which paid
farmers in good years and bad, the 2014 Farm Bill authorized a new safety-net
that protects producers only when market forces or adverse weather cause
unexpected drops in crop prices or revenues.
Example: The corn price for 2014
is 30 percent below the historical benchmark price used by the ARC-County
program, and revenues of the farms participating in the ARC-County program are
down by about $20 billion from the benchmark during the same period. The nearly
$4 billion provided today by the ARC and PLC safety-net programs will give
assistance to producers where revenues dropped below normal.”
The ARC/PLC programs primarily allow producers to
continue to produce for the market by making payments on a percentage of
historical base production, limiting the impact on production decisions.
Nationwide, 96 percent of soybean farms, 91 percent
of corn farms, and 66 percent of wheat farms elected the ARC-County coverage
option. Ninety-nine percent of long grain rice and peanut farms, and 94
percent of medium grain rice farms elected the PLC option. Overall, 76 percent
of participating farm acres are protected by ARC-County, 23 percent by PLC, and
1 percent by ARC-Individual. For data about other crops, as well as
state-by-state program election results, final PLC price and payment data, and
other program information including frequently asked questions, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.
Crops receiving assistance include barley, corn,
grain sorghum, lentils, oats, peanuts, dry peas, soybeans, and wheat. In
the upcoming months, disbursements will be made for other crops after marketing
year average prices are published by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics
Service. Any disbursements to participants in ARC-County or PLC for long and
medium grain rice (except for temperate Japonica rice) will occur in November,
for remaining oilseeds and also chickpeas in December, and temperate Japonica
rice in early February 2016. ARC-individual payments will begin in November.
Upland cotton is no longer a covered commodity.
The Budget Control Act of 2011, passed by Congress,
requires USDA to reduce payments by 6.8 percent. For more information,
producers are encouraged to visit their local Farm Service Agency office. To
find a local Farm Service Agency office, visit http://offices.usda.gov.
21 States and Private Partners Match Federal Funds
to Expand Infrastructure and Increase Fuel Options for Consumers
USDA is partnering with 21 states through the
Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) to nearly double the number of fueling
pumps nationwide that supply renewable fuels to American motorists. In May
2015, USDA announced the availability of $100 million in grants through the BIP, and that to apply states and private partners
match the federal funding by a 1:1 ratio. USDA received applications requesting
over $130 million, outpacing the $100 million that is available. With the
matching commitments by state and private entities, the BIP is investing a
total of $210 million to strengthen the rural economy.
The 21 states participating in the BIP include
Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The
amount awarded to each state is available at: www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/energy-programs/bip/index. The final awards being announced today are
estimated to expand infrastructure by nearly 5,000 pumps at over 1,400 fueling
stations.
A typical gas pump delivers fuel with 10 percent
ethanol, which limits the amount of renewable energy that consumers can
purchase. The new partnership will increase the number of pumps, storage
and related infrastructure that offer higher blends of ethanol, such as E15,
E85, and even intermediate combination blends.
USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist just released
a comprehensive report on ethanol. The report, titled U.S. Ethanol: An
Examination of Policy, Production, Use, Distribution, and Market Interactions,
brings clarity to the complex interaction of ethanol production with agricultural
markets and government policies. The corn ethanol industry is the largest
biofuel producer in the country, with production increasing from about 1.6
billion gallons in 2000 to just over 14 billion gallons in 2014, stimulating
economic activity in rural communities. Visit www.usda.gov/oce/reports/energy/EthanolExamination102015.pdf
to read the complete report.
BIP is administered by the USDA Farm Service
Agency. For more information, visitwww.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/energy-programs/index. |
