The authority to begin the 2013 DCP and ACRE signup is the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. This act extended the provisions of the previous Farm Bill for crop year 2013.

Provisions of DCP and ACRE are basically the same. The major change is that producers who wish to enroll in ACRE will have to make that election again for this year only. Previous enrollment in ACRE will not carry over – a new election must be made. The deadline for enrollment is June 3, 2013.

FSAUPDATE

A DCP contract is a contract that allows for the payment of direct and countercyclical payments. An ACRE contract allows for the issuance of Direct payments (at a reduced rate) and ACRE specific payments. The Direct payment rates will be the same as last year and there will be no advance payments.

When participating in ACRE, the farm will receive reduced direct payments. Direct payments are reduced by 20 percent. Producers are also required to provide production evidence to the County FSA office no later than July 15th, 2014 for the covered commodities. For a commodity to generate an ACRE payment, two thresholds must be met for the program year for the specific commodity. The thresholds are known as a State and Farm “trigger”. A trigger is met when the ACRE guarantee exceeds the actual revenue.

In preparing for the signup, producers must make sure that all changes have been reported to the FSA office, so that records can be updated prior to enrolling in the DCP/ACRE programs.

Reporting Land Changes – Producers should also report to FSA whenever any changes are made to your farming structure. This includes additional land being purchased or leased for 2013. Farm records will need to be up to date in our office prior to any signup being conducted for the 2013 programs. If changes are being made to the status of payment entity, i.e. changing from an individual to a corporation, a trust or an LLC, this information should be reported.

Reconstitutions – When land is gained or lost from a farm as constituted in FSA records, it is probable that a Reconstitution will be required. Changes may result in a Recon which is combining or dividing of tracts and/or farms. The Recon process is fairly time consuming, so it’s best to report these types of changes as soon as possible.

2013 NAP SALES CLOSING DATE

NAP stands for Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. The sales closing date for all spring seeded crops & perennial forage is March 15, 2013.