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The USDA will continue to
announce the alternative loan repayment rates for marketing
assistance loans each Tuesday at 3:00PM until further notice. Please
click here to find the latest Weekly Market Prices.
Additional program information
is available from Tiffany Arthur, (202) 720-4284, e-mail: tiffany.arthur@wdc.usda.gov,
or at the following website: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/publications/facts/html/peanut02.htm.
Overview
The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 provides
loans for crop years from 2002 through 2007 for peanut producers. Growers
may apply for marketing assistance loans for farm or warehouse
stored peanuts or for peanut loan deficiency payments (LDPs).
Eligibility
To be eligible for a loan or LDP, the producer must:
- Meet the definition of an eligible
producer, according to the "Marketing Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency
Payments for 1999 and Subsequent Crop Years" (8-LP)
handbook
- Be compliant with conservation and wetland requirements
- Have and retain beneficial interest in peanuts until the
loan is repaid or the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)
takes title to the commodity.
A producer is considered
to have beneficial interest in the commodity if he/she has
control and title of the commodity and is exposed to risk of
loss. County offices and applicants
may reference 8-LP to determine if the producer has beneficial
interests.
To be eligible for a loan or LDP, the peanuts must:
- Have been produced and harvested by an eligible producer
and be in storable condition
- Be merchantable for feed, food or other uses as determined
by CCC
- Meet the specific commodity eligibility
requirements for non-recourse loans
- Be one of the following types: Virginia,
Runner, Spanish, or Valencia
- Be inspected and graded if warehouse stored
- Be inspected and graded upon delivery if farm stored
Loan Limit and Term
For each of the 2002 through 2007 crop years, there is a combined
$75,000 payment for limitation for marketing loans gains and
LDPs for peanuts, honey, and wool. For warehouse loans,
CCC will pay storage charges accrued from the date on which
all required documents are provided until the date of repayment
or forfeiture.
Farm-stored loans are either certified or measured. Certified
loans refer to the producer's personally verifying crop quantity;
measured loans refer to on-site measurement conducted by a county
agent, which requires payment for the service at the time of
request.
Producers who request warehouse-stored loans must present an
acceptable warehouse receipt issued by a CCC-approved warehouse. To
obtain a warehouse-stored peanut loan, the CCC loan collateral
peanuts must be stored in a CCC approved warehouse.
Application Process
Marketing Assistance Loan
For a Marketing assistance loan, producers can request a farm-stored
or warehouse-stored loan. Warehouse-stored loans will be
adjusted for premiums and discounts if applicable.
Loan Deficiency Payment
LDP provisions are active when the national posted price repayment
rate for peanuts are less than the applicable national loan rate. When
the LDP provisions are active, producers can request to receive
an LDP in lieu of securing a marketing assistance loan. LDPs
can be either certified or field-direct. Producers must
have beneficial interest in the peanuts at the time of the request.
Exception: The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of
2002 provided a special rule for the 2002 crop of peanuts. For
the 2002 crop year ONLY, the Secretary authorized that LDPs be
made available to eligible producers, using the LDP rate on the
earliest date in effect: (1) the date of request, or (2)
the date beneficial interest was lost. This legislation
waived the beneficial interest requirement for producers who
produced and harvested 2002 crop year peanuts.
Basic LDPs for any stored quantity in which the producer maintains
a beneficial interest is requested on a CCC-633 LDP; which cannont
be cancelled at any time. LDPs are assignable; and not
subject to premiums or discounts.
Repayment Rates
The CCC will anounce the national posted price for peanuts
weekly on the FSA Web site and in local FSA offices.
Peanut loans mature on demand, but no later than the last day
of the ninth calendar month after the month in which the loan
is disbursed.
Service Fees
The peanut marketing assistance loan service fee, which is nonrefundable,
shall be the smaller of the following:
- $45.00 for each farm-stored loan plus $3 for each storage
bin over one
- 1/2 of 1 percent times the gross amount
Loan Deficiency Payment
The basic LDP rate (CCC-633-LDP) is the rate in effect on the
date of request in the county where the peanuts are stored. The
rate for field-direct LDPs (CCC-709) is based on the rate in
effect for the county on the date commodities are delivered
or harvested.
Application Deadline
During the year following a normal harvest, applications for
peanut loans or LDPs must be made by January 31. Loans
or LDPs cannont be processed until regulations are published
in the Federal Register.
For More Information
Additional information on the loans for peanut producers is available
from local USDA Service Centers and on the USDA-Farm Service
Agency (FSA) Web site at www.tsa.usda.gov.
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