Georgia Peanut Commission reminds farmers to verify acreage history at local FSA office

The Georgia Peanut Commission is urging all farmers to take action on a recent letter received from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) asking for verification of a farm’s acreage history. Failure to review the letter and respond could potentially mean a loss of any potential funds available for farmers.

The letter, dated July 28, 2014, includes a Summary Acreage History Report, which shows the acreage of covered commodities FSA could determine for the 2014 farm serial number. The report shows the 2014 base acres and counter-cyclical (CC) yields, and for 2008-12 planted acres, the acres prevented from being planted and acres planted after failed or prevented acres (called subsequent acres). Given farm serial numbers are composed of tracts, it is imperative farmers ensure all tract information is included in the Summary Acreage History Report.

“The commission realizes this is a busy time of year for farmers in the middle of corn harvest, irrigation and preparing for peanut harvest, so we wanted to remind farmers not to forget about the short time-frame to respond,” says Armond Morris, GPC chairman. “The letter received from FSA also breaks down the farm information by serial number instead of tract number, so we encourage farmers to request FSA to provide information based on the individual tract numbers of the farm.”

If farmers notice errors on the report, they have until Sept. 25, 2014, to contact their local FSA county office where the farm is administratively located to provide verifiable documentation of their acreage. This information will be used in determining any potential base reallocation for that farm serial number later this year, as well as potentially impacting any CC yield updating.

On Feb. 7, 2014, the President signed the Agricultural Act of 2014, which provides land owners with an option to reallocate base acres and update yields for covered commodities. The reallocation of base acres and the updating of counter-cyclical yields for covered commodities are in preparation for producers to enroll in the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and/or Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. Peanuts are one of 20 commodities covered. Upland cotton is no longer a covered commodity.

Earlier this summer, the National Center for Peanut Competitiveness (NCPC) officially launched the Preliminary Base Acreage and Payment Yields Decision Calculator. When USDA-FSA issues the final rules and regulations on base reallocation and yield updating, as well as temporary generic base allocation for a crop year sometime late summer/fall 2014, the calculator will be modified to reflect these changes.

The calculator is available for download on the Georgia Peanut Commission’s website, www.gapeanuts.com. For additional questions, contact Stanley Fletcher, NCPC director, at 404-277-2319 or email at smf@uga.edu.

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