May 2011

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced the first Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) Project Area. BCAP Project Areas provide financial incentives to interested farmers, ranchers and forest landowners for the voluntary establishment and production of biomass crops for conversion to heat, power, biobased products and advanced biofuels.

A BCAP project area is required to have specified boundaries that are approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. The approved specified boundary for Project Area Number 1 is a 39-county area located in central and western Missouri and eastern Kansas. The target for enrollment in Project Area Number 1 for 2011 is 20,000 acres of cropland and other agricultural land with perennial biomass crops comprised of native grasses, legumes and forbs within the approved area surrounding the biomass conversion facility. When fully enrolled, this project area may have up to 50,000 acres, producing roughly 3 tons of biomass per acre per year, or a total of 150,000 tons per year from land enrolled in BCAP contracts. Producers who enroll land can harvest their crops for sale to any qualified biomass conversion facility.

FSA, with conservation planning assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and other partners, will enter into contracts with landowners and operators in the project area. Producers will generally be eligible for:

The project will support the establishment of mixtures of perennial native grasses and forbs, such as Switchgrass, Big Bluestem, Illinois Bundleflower and Purple Prairie Clover. Additionally, the project will allow enrollment of existing suitable stands of native grasses, legumes and forbs; existing native grass stands can be located on expired Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields.

BCAP project areas have specific boundaries to establish a distinct geographic region in which producers can enroll land into BCAP contracts and produce eligible crops.

Eligible counties in Missouri are: Barton, Bates, Benton, Boone, Buchanan, Caldwell, Callaway, Cass, Carroll, Chariton, Clay, Clinton, Cooper, Daviess, Harrison, Henry, Howard, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Morgan, Pettis, Platte, Ray, Saint Clair, Saline and Vernon.

Eligible counties in Kansas are: Atchison, Douglas, Franklin, Johnson, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami and Wyandotte.

Eligible land includes cropland and non-crop agricultural land such as grassland, pastureland and hay land. Eligible land must be suitable, as determined by NRCS, for establishing the biomass crops included in the project area.

Ineligible land under this project area includes land active in:

Land enrolled in other programs may also be ineligible depending on the terms and conditions of those programs.

Producers must be in compliance with the highly erodible and wetland compliance provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended to be eligible for BCAP. There are no adjusted gross income eligibility requirements or payment limitations for BCAP contracts. Cropland base and yield history are preserved for land enrolled in a BCAP contract.

Annual Payments - Per acre base payment rates for land classified by FSA as cropland according to the definition published in the Federal Regulation at 7 CFR Part 718.2, will be calculated using CRP’s posted non-irrigated cropland soil rental rates. Per acre base payment rates for all other eligible non-cropped agricultural land will be based on the lowest posted CRP marginal pastureland rental rate applicable to the county. In addition, a 20 percent incentive will be added to these base per rates for all land enrolled.

Annual Payments Reductions - Annual payments will be reduced in the year the eligible crops are harvested or collected from the contract acreage by a percentage of the value of the harvest/collection and any BCAP matching payments. The percentage will vary according to the following table:

All uses of plant material removed from contract acreage, including material used for commercial seed sales, grazing, gleaning and related uses as determined consistent with the conservation plan, will trigger reductions in annual payments as provided. FSA will require all participants to keep and submit accurate records of the disposition and/or sale of all materials removed from contract acreage.

Establishment Payments - BCAP participants may qualify for up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing perennial crops on contract acres. These payments will reimburse participants for a part of the cost of site preparation, seed stocks, planting activities and related measures.

Establishment payments also may be authorized for those fields with existing crops.

Fencing or related livestock or wildlife control measures will not be eligible for establishment payments.

Matching Payments - Subject to the availability of funds, BCAP participants may qualify for matching payments when they deliver biomass to a qualified biomass conversion facility. These matching payments are provided for the collection, harvest, storage and transport of eligible biomass materials to qualified biomass conversion facilities. The duration of matching payments is limited to two years, per producer, with a matching rate of $1 per $1 received, up to $45 per dry ton.

A percentage of matching payments will be deducted from the annual rental payment in the year the eligible crops are harvested or collected from the contract acreage.

Before FSA approves a BCAP contract, the participants will be required to obtain a conservation plan developed by NRCS and must be approved by the local Soil and Water Conservation District and FSA.

Conservation plans must contain provisions for:

The following seeding mixes are planned for Project Area Number 1*

Enrollment periods will be announced by FSA. Approvals during the period will be made on a continuous basis, subject to funding availability. Enrollment applications will be taken at USDA Service Centers where the enrolled acres are administered.

For more information about BCAP see the general BCAP fact sheet at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/bcap_update_may2011.pdf.

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To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.