 NEWS
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of Communications News Room 460-A
Washington, DC 20250-1300
Internet: News@usda.gov Phone: 202-720-9035
World Wide Web Home Page: http://www.usda.gov
Release No. 0514.02
Alisa Harrison (202) 720-4623
Matt Lloyd (202) 720-4623
USDA CONCERNED ABOUT SLOW PACE OF SIGN-UP FOR
MAJOR FARM BILL PROGRAMS
Encourages Farmers to Sign-up Quickly to
Ensure Program Benefits Can Be Distributed
in a Timely and Efficient Manner
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2002 The U.S. Department of
Agriculture is concerned about the slow pace in which
farmers are signing up for major farm programs under the
2002 Farm Bill and today urged farmers to begin the
process to quickly sign up in order to receive intended
benefits in a timely and efficient manner.
"Ensuring timely delivery of program benefits is a
top priority for USDA," said Agriculture Secretary Ann M.
Veneman. "As farmers wrap-up this fall's challenges, we
are hopeful that the extensive outreach, education and
training USDA has conducted throughout the country will
enable producers to quickly focus on signing up for the
program, which will help prevent long lines at the county
offices next spring."
The USDA team has developed extensive new software,
trained personnel and prepared directives for the many new
and existing programs. In addition, the Department
developed a new web site and conducted hundreds of
outreach meetings to farmers nationwide to provide
information on how to comply with the new law and the
required changes in program participation.
Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services
Undersecretary J.B. Penn, Deputy Undersecretary Hunt
Shipman and Farm Service Agency Administrator Jim Little
along with various state farm program directors took to
the airwaves today with farm broadcasters and reporters
from across the country to help relay the message to
producers to sign up. This is just one of many outreach
efforts to accelerate sign-up and participation.
"If producers are putting forth a New Year's
resolution, we hope it is to understand the importance of
signing up early," said Penn. "USDA is committed to
working at every level to assist producers, but it is
critical they contact their local FSA office to begin
processing individual program information and updates
needed to participate."
According to Jim Little, reports to date from the
States indicate that producer sign-up for the direct and
counter-cyclical programs is proceeding quite slowly. He
said there are several reasons to explain the slow pace,
including the late harvest in many parts of the country
that kept farmers in the field longer than usual.
Additionally, the complexity of the new programs
requires more time for producers to gain understanding,
assemble the necessary information and make their
decision, often involving several different commodities
and unknown future market conditions.
"For the sign-up process to proceed smoothly, we
need a steady flow of producers visiting their local
county FSA office from now to the April 1 deadline," said
Little. "We want to avoid a last minute crunch in the
county offices. Thus, the sooner producers contact their
local FSA offices and begin the sign-up process, the more
our staff can be of help to them to receive their intended
benefits in a timely manner."
Little also reminded producers that they can sign up
for major programs now and still make changes to their
decisions any time until the April 1 closing date for base
acreage and yield updating. Also, producers may visit
their local FSA office multiple times to review
information and discuss their decisions.
New computer-based tools also have been developed to
help producers analyze the economic consequences of the
new Farm Bill's updating options. USDA, in conjunction
with Texas A&M; University, has made available one such
calculator on the FSA web site (http://www.fsa.usda.gov).
Several other land grant universities and commodity
associations have developed similar tools available to
producers.
"All of us at USDA recognize the importance of the
new Farm Bill to America's producers, and we remain fully
committed to providing them with all the necessary
information and assistance throughout the implementation
process," added Penn.
For a complete list of Farm Bill programs, benefits
and information needed for sign-up, please visit USDA's
Farm Bill web site at http://www.usda.gov/ or contact your
local FSA office or service center.
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