Deadline looms to sign up for farm payments

The Iowa Farm Service Agency says time is running out for farmers to sign up for their “safety net” payments from the federal Government. Steve Phillips is a spokesman for the F-S-A. He says there are some direct payments, guaranteed payments based on acres and yield and there’s some “countercyclical” payments, which are paid if prices are below a certain level. Phillips says the payments aren’t new, but the way farmers sign up is. He says under the prior farm bill, there was a seven-year contract. Under the 2004 farm bill, farmers have to sign up every year. Phillips says you have just a couple of weeks left to sign up.He says 80 to 90-percent of the farmers have already signed up. He says the remaining 10-percent need to sign up by June 1st or they’ll have to pay a 100 dollar late filing feed. You can sign up at your county F-S-A office.