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USDA Announces No Final 2009-Crop Counter-Cyclical Payments for Rice

WASHINGTON- Farm Service Agency Administrator Jonathan Coppess announced today that USDA will not issue partial 2010-crop counter-cyclical payments to producers of certain covered commodities.

Payments will not be made to producers of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, long grain rice, medium grain rice, soybeans, sunflower seed, rapeseed, canola, safflower, flaxseed, mustard seed, crambe, sesame seed, dry peas, lentils, small chickpeas, large chickpeas, and peanuts. For all covered commodities and peanuts, market price projections exceed levels that would trigger these payments.

"Counter-cyclical payments are authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill to provide producers with a safety net during periods of low crop prices; but I know our farmers overwhelmingly prefer to receive compensation for their efforts from the marketplace," said Coppess.

In addition to the 2010 crop information, USDA announced it will not issue final 2009-crop counter-cyclical payments for long grain rice and medium grain (including short grain) rice because their average market prices exceeded levels that would trigger these payments.

For more information on the direct and counter-cyclical payment programs, including a table displaying the target price, projected average market price, loan rate, direct payment rate, effective price and projected counter-cyclical rates, visit your local FSA office or the FSA DCP website: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/dcp.

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