USDA Delivers First Actions on the 2008 Farm Bill

Peanut Kernel U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafertoday announced on June 12 that the USDA has delivered its firstactions implementing the new farm bill. Within three weeks ofcommodity title enactment in the 2008 farm bill, USDA isimplementing marketing assistance loan and loan deficiency payment(LDP) provisions. "We know we can rely on America's farmers and ranchers to grow ourfood, and they can rely on USDA to have the new farm bill ready,"said Schafer. "The Department of Agriculture is putting into actionthe thousands of pages of new farm bill law for crop production,research, marketing, nutrition, conservation, food aid and ruraldevelopment. Expect more follow-on farm bill results from USDA." USDA also announced that county loan rates for 2008 crop of wheat,corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans, and other oilseeds(sunflower seed, flaxseed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, mustardseed, crambe, and sesame seed), State loan rates by class for 2008crop of rice, and regional loan rates for 2008 pulse crops (smallchickpeas, dry peas, and lentils) were posted today on the FarmService Agency (FSA) Web sitehttp://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=prsu&topic=lor With enactment of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008,(the 2008 farm bill) national loan rates for the 2008 crops ofwheat, feed grains, oilseeds, rice, and pulses are at the followinglevels: ?Wheat $2.75 per bushel ?Corn $1.95 per bushel ?Grain Sorghum $1.95 per bushel ?Barley $1.85 per bushel ?Oats $1.33 per bushel ?Soybeans $5.00 per bushel ?Other Oilseeds $9.30 per hundredweight for each "other"oilseed ?Rice, long grain $6.50 per hundredweight ?Rice, medium grain $6.50 per hundredweight ?Small Chickpeas $7.43 per hundredweight ?Dry Peas $6.22 per hundredweight ?Lentils $11.72 per hundredweight As required by the 2008 Farm Bill, these national loan rates areestablished at the same levels as those established for the 2007crop, with the exception of rice. Starting with the 2008 crop, the2008 farm bill specifies national loan rates for both long grainrice and medium grain rice. Milled and Rough Rice Loan Rates by Class Updated For rice stored in commercial warehouses, the whole kernel milledrice loan rates for the 2008 crop are $10.00 per hundredweight forlong grain and $9.78 for medium/short grain. The broken kernel loanrate for all classes is $6.67 per hundredweight. National averagerough rice loan rates by class are $6.50 per hundredweight for longgrain and $6.50 for medium/short grain. USDA computes milled andrough rice loan rates by class using average milling yields andproduction percentages to ensure that the production-weightednational average rough rice loan rate equals the $6.50 perhundredweight national loan rate. Regional Pulse Loans Updated The 2008 crop West Region dry pea loan rate is $6.58 perhundredweight; the East Region dry pea loan rate is $6.14 perhundredweight. The West Region lentil loan rate is $14.23 perhundredweight; the East Region lentil loan rate is $10.74 perhundredweight. These rates average to the national rate based onrecent regional production shares. The West Region includes the Palouse (Idaho, Oregon and Washington)and other states west of the Rocky Mountains (Alaska, Arizona,California, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah). The East Regionincludes Montana, North Dakota and all other states not in the WestRegion. USDA determined that insufficient reliable market information isavailable to establish regional loan rates for small chickpeas.Therefore, the national rate of $7.43 per hundredweight applies forall producing regions. Under provisions of the new 2008 farm bill,producers of large chickpeas will not be eligible for marketingassistance loans until the 2009 crop year. Marketing assistance loans provide producers interim financing atharvest time to meet cash flow needs without having to sell theircommodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows.A producer who is eligible to obtain a loan, but who agrees toforgo the loan, may obtain a loan deficiency payment if suchpayments are available. Other Provisions and Rates Cotton and peanut loan and LDP provisions and rates will beannounced separately. Wool, mohair and honey were announced in January.