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Farmers across the country having the worst year since 2007, USDA reports

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Farmers across the country have experienced the worst planting season since the United States Department of Agriculture began tallying these records in 2007. In all, some 19.4 million acres were not planted this year.

Compared to last year, it’s an increase of 17.49 prevented plant acres, the USDA said in a statement.

Most of that acreage, 73 percent, is in 12 Midwestern states; however, Mississippi is among the four hardest hits states, along with Ohio, Arkansas and Michigan.

No one has to tell farmers in the Delta, particularly those in the South Delta, that they’ve had a tough year. In Warren County alone, more than 59 percent of farm fields haven’t been planted due to heavy rain and flooding, amounting to more than 26,000 acres according to the USDA data.

“Agricultural producers across the country are facing significant challenges and tough decisions on their farms and ranches,” USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey said in the statement. “We know these are challenging times for farmers, and we have worked to improve flexibility of our programs to assist producers prevented from planting.”

From the USGS release:

About the Report

The data report aggregates information from crop acreage reports as of August 1, 2019, which producers file with FSA to maintain program eligibility and to calculate losses for various disaster assistance programs. The crop acreage data report outlines the number of acres planted, prevented from planting, and failed by crop, county and state. To find more information, view the Aug. 12 report.

Because some producers have not completed their filing and data are still being processed, FSA will make available subsequent data reports in September, October, November, December and January. You can find reports from 2007 to the present on FSA’s Crop Acreage Data webpage.

To receive FSA program benefits, producers are required to submit crop acreage reports annually regarding all cropland uses on their farm. This report includes data for producers who had already filed for all deadlines in 2019, including the mid-July deadlines, which are for spring-seeded crops in many locations.

Other Prevented Planting Indicators

In addition to acreage reports filed with FSA, producers with crop insurance coverage for prevented planting file claims with their insurance providers. These claims are provided to RMA and may differ from the prevented planted acres reported to FSA. More information on prevented plant coverage is available on the RMA website.

Official USDA estimates of total acres planted, harvested and to be harvested, yield, and production are available from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service at nass.usda.gov.

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