WASHINGTON (Sept. 4, 2002) – National Farmers Union commended U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today for clarifying the types of information producers may use to update farm yields under farm payment programs.

"From producer comments we have received, there has been a high level of anxiety that USDA was attempting to establish the rules for production evidence in such a way that many farmers would have been unable to fully utilize the yield update provisions of the farm bill," said NFU President Dave Frederickson.

Of particular concern were the types of production evidence required to calculate yields for the new counter-cyclical payment program. In an Aug. 20 letter to Veneman, Frederickson requested that all reasonable forms of production evidence be accepted.

According to Veneman’s statement, producers seeking to update yields may verify production by using weight tickets, loan deficiency payment (LDP) data, crop insurance appraisals, sale records, or previous LDPs. If a producer is unable to provide this information, Veneman said the Farm Service Agency could assign an updated yield based on yields from three similar farms or 75 percent of the county average yield.

"We appreciate Secretary Veneman’s clarifications that will give more producers a fair opportunity to fully participate in the farm bill programs," Frederickson said.

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Veneman’s statement is available at www.fsa.usda.gov.

www.nfu.org.