Pilot sweet corn and pea program included in farm bill on Owatonna

OWATONNA — The previous farm bill doled out penalties for some farmers who wanted to switch their crops to fruits and vegetables, but in 2009, Minnesota and Steele County farmers will have the chance to join a pilot program allowing them to grow sweet corn and peas in a lucrative market.

In the 2008 farm bill, a Planting Transferability Pilot Project was built in, giving Minnesota 34,000 acres for vegetable farming on base acres.

To apply for the program, farmers must enter into a contract with a canning company first and agree to a crop rotation plan.

“You’re not going to go out there and plant 80 acres of peas if you don’t have a canning company contract,” said Doug Westphal, USDA executive director for Steele and Blue Earth counties. “This is only for fruits and vegetables that are processed.”

Those who apply by March 2 will be sent through a state approval process. If more than the 34,000 acres are applied for, a lottery style will determine who is still allowed to plant vegetables on base acres.

This project, known as PTPP, and other changes that farmers will see as the 2008 Farm Bill is enacted for the 2009 season were issues local USDA officials discussed with farmers Thursday at

three open meetings throughout the day. However, Westphal said that as more deadlines and possible changes with a new administration trickle down, he expects many more open meetings.

“We’re going to have to have more meetings,” Westphal said. “We have to — there’s just too much out there.”

Westphal and Rice County USDA Executive Director Evie Moore also explained two major payment changes, the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program and the Average Crop Revenue Election Program.

To enroll in the DCP Program, farmers must sign up by June 1, 2009. The DCP program allows farmers to request a 22 percent advance direct payment to help with the financing for their 2009 crops.

The ACRE program is a component of the farm bill that acts as a safety net to protect against crop revenue shortfall resulting from price and/or production declines. ACRE payments are driven by national averages and provides counter-cyclical protection on crops a producer actually plants rather than a farm’s historical plantings. The ACRE program deadlines have not been announced. Westphal said he can’t tell farmers which is the better option to protect future revenues.

“We can’t tell you which one will be the better option for you. You have to decide which one is best for your farm,” Moore said.

A farmer can participate in DCP on one farm and ACRE on another farm, but once a farmer enrolls in ACRE, those crops must remain in the program the next year.

Moore said conferences will be held at her office in Rice County on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for farmers who could not make it to the Thursday meetings but want to learn more about the 2008 Farm Bill payments.

Westphal said the Steele County USDA office is also considering holding conferences on Thursdays for more information but times have not yet been established.

Wendy Reuer can be reached at 444-1565.

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