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Sign-up for the crop aid provisions of the Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003 will begin June 6 with payments to begin soon after.

According to USDA, crop disaster payments will be calculated using the same formula used for the 2000 crop year. This means crop losses for 2001 and 2002 will be valued using the price election for Actual Production History crop insurance policies, or if that price is not available, a 5-year average.

Crop disaster payments also are subject to caps. USDA will use a formula that states the sum of (1) the value of the crop not lost, (2) the disaster payment and (3) the crop insurance indemnity. The total cannot exceed 95 percent of what the crop's value would have been, if there had been no loss. Crop disaster payments will be reduced if the 95 percent limitation is exceeded. The value of the crop not lost and the 95 percent limitation will be valued at either the Actual Production History price election or the National Agricultural Statistics Service season-average price, whichever is higher.

"The department is committed to getting assistance into the hands of affected producers as soon as possible," said Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman. "Our timetable is several weeks ahead of previous disaster aid packages, even though this is a more complicated bill to implement."

To expedite the process, Veneman said the department is working to cut regulatory red tape by going directly to final rules where possible and implementing many regulations through a single, expedited "mega regulation."

USDA also announced the $250 million Livestock Assistance Program that will reimburse producers for grazing losses will begin in July. And the agriculture department said it will issue refunds to eligible producers who were assessed payment reductions last year for haying or grazing on lands enrolled under the Conservation Reserve Program.

The Livestock Compensation Program and the Tobacco Payment Program already are in place, with sign-up for both programs already under way.

For more details on all aspects of the assistance program, go to www.ofbf.org, featured links and click on "disaster aid."