USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia has announced an extension of the FSA acreage reporting deadline. Farmers and landowners have an additional 18 calendar days to submit their annual report of acreage to their local FSA county office with the deadline extended from Monday, July 15, 2013, to Friday, Aug. 2, 2013. Only the FSA reporting deadline has been extended. The acreage reporting requirement for crop insurance has not changed and was on July 15.

  "We want to ensure our producers maintain their program benefits by filing their reports accurately and in a timely manner for all crops and land uses, including prevented and failed acreage," said Administrator Garcia. 

 Acreage reports for FSA are considered timely this year when filed at the county office by the new applicable final crop reporting deadline of Aug. 2, 2013. Producers should contact their county FSA office if they are uncertain about reporting deadlines. 

This delay will slow peanut markets because of unknown acreage, prevented plantings, and USDA moves on stored loan peanuts.

Peanut production in the Southeast has been slowed by record rainfall in many areas of the region, creating significant challenges for growers in coastal areas from Georgia to Virginia. Heavy rainfall in late June and into July has washed away some peanut acreage, pushing growers to determine losses by the original July 15 deadline.