Two important Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) deadlines are approaching this month.

Producers who have either not yet enrolled in DCP or have not yet signed their DCP contracts must do so by close of business Monday, Sept. 16, according to Alabama USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Daniel Robinson. Contracts filed after this date will be elevated from the county office to the state office and will require state committee action.

“It’s easy to get distracted during the harried harvest season, but producers should be careful not to let their DCP contracts and other important FSA business slip through the cracks,” said Robinson.

Additionally, Robinson reminds producers that any succession-in-interest changes made to an operation that affect interest in base acres since the current DCP contract on file was signed, must be reported to the local FSA office by close of business Monday, Sept. 30, 2013.

Changes that qualify as a succession-in-interest include:

• sale of land
• change of operator or producer, including an increase or decrease in the number of partners
• foreclosure, bankruptcy or involuntary loss of the farm
• change in producer shares to reflect changes in the producer’s share of the crop(s) that were    originally approved on the contract.

“In the event of a succession-in-interest, the ‘predecessor,’ is required to refund any advance DCP payments received for the affected base acres before a payment can be made to the ‘successor,” said Robinson. “Failure to report a succession-in-interest can result in contract termination and a loss of program benefits for all producers involved.”

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, enacted on Jan. 2, 2013, amends the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 and provides for a one-year extension of the Direct and Counter-Cyclical (DCP) program.

There are two types of DCP payments: direct payments and counter-cyclical payments. Both are calculated using the base acres and payment yields established for the farm. DCP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). Regulations covering the provisions for DCP appear at 7 CFR Part 1412.

Further information on DCP is available at local FSA offices or on FSA’s DCP website at: www.fsa.usda.gov/dcp.