LOAN DEFICIENCY PROGRAM EXPANDED FOR CATTLE PRODUCERS

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 16, 1998) – The USDA loan deficiency payment program has been changed to increase flexibility and reduce discrimination against cattle producers, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) said today.

"NCBA applauds USDA for making the program more inclusive. In this time of low commodity prices all the way around, it's important that we continue to urge USDA to keep cattle producers in mind," said Bill Nice, NCBA Agricultural Policy Committee chairman and a cattle producer from Morrison, Illinois.

"This change will help cattle producers who harvest their grain for cattle feed to increase their cash flow," Nice added. "USDA has made the LDP program equitable for all of agriculture."

NCBA worked with seven state affiliate cattle organizations to urge USDA to make the change. Cattle producers who harvest silage, earlage, cobbage, field ground corn, and other feed grains that are cracked, rolled or crimped now are eligible for the program. The new protocols are retroactive, covering acreage, which may have already been harvested.

Formerly, the program restricted grain harvesting, marketing and storage options. Those who normally harvested their grain crops as silage, high-moisture grain, or field-ground corn, as many cattle producers do, had been excluded from the program.

-- NCBA --

Initiated in 1898, NCBA is the marketing organization and trade association for America’s one million cattle farmers and ranchers. With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington D.C., NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed organization representing the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.