FAQ: Last fall (2008) I purchased a farm that does not have an FSA farm program acre base for either corn or soybeans. Is there any way to get a base established or assigned to this land?

Answer: Provided by Kevin McClure, program specialist, USDA Farm Service Agency state office in Des Moines.

This farmer sent us an email with more information on the history of this farm, which helps clarify his predicament. The farm is 115 total acres with 85.5 crop acres. Prior to 1954 this land was farmed. From 1954 to 2004 all of it was bluegrass pasture with no crop base ever. Since then the certified crop acres have been: 2005, all soybeans; 2006, all corn; 2007, all soybeans; 2008, all corn; 2009, all soybeans with this farmer as the current owner-operator.

The farmer writes: “Because the land was not in crop production during the years when the acre and yield bases were set on each farm, this farm has NO base records. I’m told that without any crop bases the farm isn’t eligible to be in the USDA Direct and Counter-cyclical Program or in the new ACRE program. Can a base be assigned or established on the farm now? Is there any appeal process? With this farm, neither the DCP nor the ACRE program are of any benefit to me if I can’t enroll it. Please tell me what I can do to remedy this situation.

Rules don’t allow establishing new base acres

The 2008 Farm Bill doesn’t allow for the establishment of new base acres on a farm. In other words, the farms with bases under the previous federal farm bill were rolled forward into the new farm bill and the new farm bill does not allow farmers to update any current bases or establish any new base acres.

There are no appeal rights as the statute specifically states that bases can’t be established or updated with current plantings.

If you have specific questions or need details regarding USDA farm programs, contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency office. You can also get news and information about DCP, ACRE and other USDA programs at www.fsa.usda.gov.Two Iowa State University Extension Web sites have farm program information and analysis. They are ISU's Ag Decision Maker site at www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm and ISU Extension Specialist Steve Johnson's site at www.extension.iastate.edu/polk/farmmanagement.htm.And be sure to read the regular column "Frequently Asked Questions about the Farm Program" that appears in each issue of Wallaces Farmer magazine and at www.WallacesFarmer.com