The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s American farmers and ranchers outside the 48 contiguous United States that experience high transportation costs will soon see relief through funding authorized through the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 or Farm Bill.
The Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program for Geographically Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers, or RTCP. assists farmers and ranchers in Alaska, Hawaii, and areas including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the CNMI, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau who paid to transport either an agricultural commodity or an input used to produce an agricultural commodity.
“The deadline to apply is Sept. 10, so there is a limited window of opportunity for our producers to apply for this program.” said Guam and CNMI County Executive Director Tom Camacho. “The application process could be time consuming as most of our farmers and ranchers are small scale family owned farms; as such we might be looking at hundreds of receipts which they must separate themselves.” “Each receipt must be categorized due to the different reimbursement rates set by regulation.”
Applicants might be able to claim supplies that were purchased locally due to the hidden shipping fees.
Sept. 10, 2010 is the deadline for applicants to file their RTCP application with their local FSA county office, and applicants will also have until Nov. 1, 2010, to provide supporting documentation of actual costs of transporting agricultural inputs and commodities in fiscal year 2010 to the FSA county office.
The Guam County FSA Office is working with the following CNMI offices:
• Rota, NMC-CREES- Alejandro Badilles, Extension Agent 670-532-9513
• Tinian, DLNR – Richard Farrell, Resident Director 670-433-1400
• Saipan, Division of Agriculture, Kagman – George Mosses 670-256-3319
• Or producers can contact the Guam FSA County Office directly at 670-236-0896
For more information, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport.
