USDA ANNOUNCES 2009 NUMBERS FOR DCP AND ACRE PROGRAMS

News Date October 20, 2009

This week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the enrollment numbers for the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) and the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program. In 2009, USDA enrolled nearly 255 million base acres on approximately 1.7 million farms in DCP and ACRE, issuing nearly $4 billion in 2009 final direct payments. To date, producers already received advance payments of roughly $900 million. Participants in ACRE, which was established in the 2008 Farm Bill, made up nearly 8 percent of those enrolled in the 2009 DCP or ACRE programs. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), corn, wheat, and soybeans had the highest number of base acres enrolled. The sign up period for 2010 has already started, with a deadline for producers to elect the programs by June 1, 2010. (Contact: David Hickey)