USDA crop election payments exceed $16 million for county

USDA payments to Whitman County farmers enrolled in the Average Crop Revenue Election, or ACRE program, received $16.1 million in payments for the 2009 crop year.

For the 514 farms enrolled in the ACRE program, the payments equate to a per farm average of more than $31,322. The county office of the Farm Service Agency has 1,721 farms on its records.

The ACRE program was created in the 2008 Farm Bill. Farmers have an option of enrolling in ACRE or staying in the traditional Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment program, or DCP.

In order for producers to receive ACRE payments, revenue triggers for...