WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2015 - Some producers with farms in more than one county could be getting more money from USDA under the Agriculture Risk Coverage program. The Farm Service Agency has agreed to change the way ARC payments were calculated for 2014 and 2015.
Under rules that FSA has been using, ARC payments were calculated based solely on the payment rate in a grower’s “administrative” county, the county where the producer’s records are handled by FSA. That rule wound up costing producers money if other counties where their tracts were located had higher payment rates than the administrative county.
According to a memo sent to staff offices, FSA will allow payments to be recalculated based on the payment rate in each county where a grower has farms. Under an example provided in the memo, a farm’s payment could vary by thousands of dollars when recalculated according to the county where the tract is located, rather than the administrative county.
The National Corn Growers Association applauded the change. “Although NCGA has learned the number of farms not located in their administrative county represent a small percentage nationwide, the potential for variation in payments can be very significant,” the group said.
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