(Revised).July 2011

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced the sixth new Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) project area in Oregon and Washington. BCAP project areas provide financial incentives to eligible landowners and operators to establish and produce biomass crops for heat, power, biobased products and advanced biofuels. Producers in project area six are eligible to receive annual payments to grow camelina for energy purposes.

Camelina is an oilseed annual crop. When camelina is crushed, the oil is suitable for biodiesel, and the meal may be used as an animal feed. To support camelina producers in the project area, FSA will enter into five-year contracts with producers to grow the annual crop each year on cropland enrolled in BCAP contracts. As a condition of enrollment, producers must provide evidence that they have a camelina production agreement with a third party biomass conversion facility.

The project entails enrollment of up to 1,000 acres in fiscal year 2011 in the following project area counties:

A tract of crop land must be completely located in a project area county to be eligible. Generally, cropland previously used for summer-fallow wheat production is expected to be enrolled under these new crops and converted to camelina production

Annual rental payments per acre for cropland enrolled under these contracts will be based on posted Conservation Reserve Program non-irrigated cropland rental rates plus an additional incentive of 20 percent. These posted rates generally range from $33 to $66 an acre in the six (6) project area counties.

BCAP contracts will be five years in length with all annual rental payments obligated from the FY 2011 allocations. The estimated total annual rental payment allocation amount is up to $370,000.

Producers who enroll land can harvest their camelina crops for sale to any biomass conversion facility or any other user. 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:

Participants will be required to plant and harvest camelina each year of the 5 year contracts at their own expense; although some exceptions for prevented plantings and crop failures due to no fault of the participants may be approved on a case-by-case basis. During the 1st year of BCAP contracts previously established standing crops of wheat or other crops may also be harvested from contract acreage.

All uses of plant material removed from land enrolled under active contracts, including sales of 1st year standing crops, grazing, gleaning or similar uses will also trigger reductions in annual payments. 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 for part of the eligible costs of the plantings will not be made available because the BCAP’s statutory provisions do not authorize establishment payments for annually planted biomass crops such as camelina.

Matching payments for eligible material biomass will also not be made available for biomass harvested or collected from BCAP contracted acreage by eligible material owners.

Only land classified as cropland by FSA is eligible to be enrolled in this project. Rangeland, pastureland and forestland will generally not be suitable for this cropland classification. Eligible cropland land must be suitable, as determined by NRCS, for the production of camelina.

Ineligible land also includes native sod and land owned by federal agencies, states, and local governments. Additionally, land enrolled in Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, or Grassland Reserve Program is ineligible for enrollment in BCAP. Land enrolled in other programs may also be ineligible depending on the terms and conditions of those programs.

All land enrolled must be covered by a conservation plan provided through technical assistance from USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) or NRCS’s technical service program partners.

The signup periods for producers in project area counties is scheduled to run from Aug. 8 through Sept. 16, 2011. Interested producers are encouraged to inquire and apply early as the signup duration and total acreage allocation are both very limited. Approvals of offers during this period will be made on a continuous basis, subject to funding availability. An enrollment application will be taken at the County USDA Service Centers location where the farm is administered.

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 requirements or payment limitation requirements for program participants. Any existing cropland base and yield history will be preserved for land enrolled in a BCAP contract.

After contracts are approved for FY 2011 the camelina plantings are generally expected to start in the (season) of (year) and be harvested in the (season) of (year).

For more information about BCAP visit the FSA BCAP website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/bcap, or see the general BCAP fact sheet at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/bcap_update_may2011.pdf.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, genetic information, reprisal, or because all of part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

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.