The wait is over. Requesting and receiving Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) payments for your operation are now only a click away with the launch of USDA's Electronic Loan Deficiency Payment (eLDP) service.

While at the Farm Science Review in London, Ohio, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced the service is up and running and ready for business. "The eLDP program allows producers to apply for and receive Loan Deficiency Payments online from remote locations such as their homes or offices," she says.

In January, USDA launched its eGov initiative by unveiling a new Web site, which was the first phase in efforts to make the Web site more powerful and accessible to USDA information and science. Features are continually being added such as the Customer Statement in March, which puts a whole range of USDA services and programs into a single report at the fingertips of agricultural producers. Farmers are able to view their contracts in various conservation programs, payments under commodity programs and information on loans and crop insurance. Farmers participating in the eLDP service will no longer have to travel to USDA Service Centers to receive their benefits.

Payments are automatically deposited in the producer's bank account, reducing paperwork while speeding up payment processing. To participate, producers must meet all eligibility requirements for marketing assistance loans and LDPs for barley, canola, corn, corn silage, dry peas, flaxseed, grain sorghum, honey, mustard, oats, peanuts, rapeseed, rice, safflower, soybeans, sunflower oil, sunflower seeds, wheat, wool, mohair and unshorn pelts. eLDPs for upland cotton producers will become available at a future date.

When local market prices are less than the marketing assistance loan rate, producers can choose to receive LDPs for their crops in lieu of marketing assistance loans. An LDP is based upon the quantity of the commodity pledged as collateral for a loan multiplied by the difference between the local marketing assistance loan rate and the posted county price for the commodity. The voluntary eLDP service has stringent security measures to protect participants' private information. As with traditional LDPs, only authorized federal employees have access to information that is submitted electronically.

All participating producers must have an e-mail address and set up a customer profile through their local USDA Service Center that validates their farming and crop information. To register, producers can go to: www.sc.egov.usda.gov and complete form CCC-634-E, "Request for Electronic Loan Deficiency Payment Services" obtain the form at USDA Service Centers. Eligible producers must also have an active USDA eAuthentication Level 2 account, which requires filling out an online registration form at www.eauth.egov.usda.gov/ followed by a visit to the local USDA Service Center for identity verification.