09/07/05 Input wanted on CRP rental rates

Washington Ag September 7, 2005 The Farm Service Agency would like to hear your ideas on how Conservation Reserve Program rental rates can be made market neutral. The agency is conducting three meetings over the next two weeks to gather public input on the issue. Jim Fitzgerald, who heads the FSA in Washington state says that numerous comments have been made that CRP rental rates are not consistent with dryland agricultural cash rents. Fitzgerald: "In the past we have used soil rental rates as a basis for determining cash value rent based upon productivity type of soils, the rainfall. We want to make sure there is not another method out there we can't utilize. We've struggled with valuation, return on investment, some of those numbers and it becomes very complicated." Fitzgerald says at least two members of the FSA State Committee will be at the meetings. The State Commmittee will be considering suggestions made during the public meetings as well as recommendations from FSA county committees when deciding on their recommendations to forward to the national office. All meetings are from ten a.m. to noon and they are in Dayton, Monday September 12th at the Conoco General Store, At the Harrington Community Center on Tuesday September 13th and the St. John Community Hall Monday September 19th. I'm Bob Hoff.