Major Issues

2002 Farm Bill

Highlights of the 2002 Farm Bill for Vermont Summaries prepared by the Office of Senator Patrick Leahy National Dairy Program VT Delegation Summary (5/2/02) Program Details Non-Dairy Commodities (corn, soybeans, etc.) Specialty Crops Organics Conservation Nutrition Rural Development Forestry Research Energy Disaster Assistance

Other Commodities NEW!  Wool and Mohair: Provides marketing loans or loan deficiency payments based on a loan rate of $1.00 per pound for graded wool, $.40 per pound for non-graded wool, $4.20 per pound for mohair and $.40 per pound for unshorn pelts.  Producers may choose to place their wool and mohair under loan and receive the established loan rate, or they may forego putting their wool and mohair under loan and receive a loan deficiency payment (LDP) equal to the difference between the loan rate and the prevailing repayment rate.  USDA plans to periodically announce repayment rates, adjusted for current market conditions.  Producers who place their wool and mohair under loan have the option of either repaying the loan at the prevailing repayment rate, or, if market conditions warrant, forfeiting the wool and mohair pledged as collateral as full repayment of the loan. *  Corn, Soybeans, etc.: The new farm bill provides higher loan rates for most crops; Direct payments for wheat, oilseeds, feed grains, cotton, and rice (previously called production flexibility contract payments); and additional payments (called counter-cyclical payments) to producers of these crops when commodity prices fall below target prices set in the law.  It also includes an option for producers to update the bases and yields used to calculate counter-cyclical payments.

Loan Rate              Direct Payment                Target Price

2002-2003   2004-2007     2002-2007   2002-2003     2004-2007

Corn (bu)                         $1.98           $1.95           $0.28           $2.60           $2.63

Soybeans (bu)                 $5.00           $5.00           $0.44           $5.80           $5.80

Minor Oilseeds (lb)          $.0960         $.0930         $0.0080       $0.0980       $0.1010

NEW!  Base Acres: Allows producers to retain their current AMTA base acres and add oilseed acres, or to update base acres using 1998-2001 acres planted and prevented planted to all covered commodities.

NEW!  Payment Yields: Allows producers who update base acreage to the average of 1998-2001 plantings to update yields for counter-cyclical payments. The update is the higher of 70% of the difference between current AMTA yields and a full yield update based on 1998-2001 yields on planted acreage OR 93.5% of 1998-2001 yields on planted acreage.  Provides  a "plug" of 75% of the county average yield for years in which the actual farm yield is less than the county average yield.

*   Timing of Payments: A producer could elect to receive up to 50% of the direct payment beginning December 1 of the year prior to the year the crop is harvested, and the balance of the direct payment in October of the year the crop is harvested. For counter-cyclical payments, a producer can receive up to 35% of the projected payment in October of the year the crop is harvested; an additional 35% beginning in February of the following year; and the balance after the end of the 12-month marketing year for each crop.

NEW!  Includes authority for LDPs on grazed wheat, oats, barley and triticale. Provides for LDPs for the 2001 crop on non-AMTA farms, and waives beneficial interest requirements for the 2001 crop. Also implements a program of incentive payments to develop marketing opportunities for Hard White Wheat.

NEW!  Corrects USDA error to provide certain producers payments that were undelivered for  crop years 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.