WASHINGTON D.C – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin accepting requests for marketing assistance loans (MALs) and loan deficiency payments (LDPs) for eligible 2014 commodities. Notice of the authorization is published in today’s Federal Register.
MALs and LDPs for the 2014 crop year become available to eligible producers beginning with harvest/shearing season and extending through a specific commodity’s final loan availability date.
Sugar commodity loans for 2014 crop will be available to sugar processors beginning Oct. 1, 2014.
MALs and LDPs provide financing and marketing assistance for wheat, feed grains, soybeans, and other oilseeds, pulse crops, rice, peanuts, cotton, wool, mohair and honey. MALs provide producers interim financing after harvest to help them meet cash flow needs without having to sell their commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. Allowing farmers to store their products at harvest facilitates a more orderly marketing of commodities throughout the year. A producer who is eligible to obtain a loan, but agrees to forgo the loan, may obtain an LDP if such a payment is available.
Marketing loan provisions and LDPs are not available for sugar and extra-long staple cotton.
The 2014 Farm Bill also establishes payment limitations per individual or entity not to exceed $125,000 annually on certain commodities for the following program benefits: price loss coverage payments, agriculture risk coverage payments, marketing loan gains (MLGs) and LDPs. These payment limitations do not apply to MAL loan disbursements. Please consult your local FSA office for details.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) provisions were modified by the 2014 Farm Bill, which states that a producer whose total applicable three-year average AGI exceeds $900,000 is not eligible to receive an MLG or LDP.
The 2014 Farm Bill establishes national loan rates for the 2014 crops of wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, pulse crops, milled rice, peanuts, extra-long staple cotton, wool, mohair, sugar and honey. The 2014 Farm Bill requires the upland cotton base quality loan rate to be determined annually according to the applicable statutory provisions. The 2014 crop loan rates are:
Wheat: $2.94 per bushel
Corn: $1.95 per bushel
Grain Sorghum: $1.95 per bushel
Barley: $1.95 per bushel
Oats: $1.39 per bushel
Soybeans: $5.00 per bushel
Other Oilseeds: $10.09 per hundredweight for each “other oilseed”
Small Chickpeas: $7.43 per hundredweight
Large Chickpeas: $11.28 per hundredweight
Dry Peas: $5.40 per hundredweight
Lentils: $11.28 per hundredweight
Long grain rough rice: $6.50 per hundredweight
Medium/short grain rough rice: $6.50 per hundredweight
Peanuts: $355.00 per ton
Upland Cotton: $0.52 per pound*
Extra Long Staple Cotton: $0.7977 per pound
Graded Wool: $1.15 per pound
Nongraded Wool: $0.40 per pound
Mohair: $4.20 per pound
Raw Cane Sugar: $0.1875 per pound
Refined Beet Sugar: $0.2409 per pound
Honey: $0.69 per pound
*The 2014-crop upland cotton loan rate was previously announced in a separate press release on Feb. 18, 2014.
County loan rates also are announced for the 2014 crops of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans and other oilseeds (sunflower seed, flaxseed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, mustard seed, crambe and sesame seed); national milled rice loan rates by class and state rough rice loan rates by class for the 2014 rice crop; and regional loan rates for 2014 pulse crops (dry peas and lentils). The rates are posted on the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport.
Later announcements will include peanut loan rates by type, refined beet sugar loan rates by region, raw cane sugar loan rates by state, and the schedule of premiums, discounts and other related information.
For more information, please visit a nearby USDA Service Center or FSA’s website www.fsa.usda.gov.
