Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program for Geographically Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers

 

The intended goal of the program is to provide direct reimbursement payments to a geographically disadvantaged farmer or rancher who transports an agricultural commodity, or inputs used to produce an agricultural commodity during a fiscal year. Input transportation cost are transportation costs of inputs used to produce an agricultural commodity including, but not limited to, air, ocean, and land freight of chemicals, feed, fertilizer, fuel, seeds, plants, supplies, equipment parts, and other inputs. The Farm Service Agency (FSA), Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs (DAFP) administers RTCP. The program will be carried out in the field by FSA State and county committee and FSA employees. State and local governments and their political subdivisions and related agencies are not eligible for RTCP payments.

Active 10.098 Farm Service Agency, Department of Agriculture D - Direct Payments With Unrestricted Use Not applicable. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, Part H.R. 2617-16 To be eligible to receive program benefits, a geographically disadvantaged farmer or rancher must: (1) Be a producer of an eligible agricultural commodity in substantial commercial quantities (2) Incur transportation costs for the transportation of the agricultural commodity or input used to produce the agriculture commodity (3) Submit an application for payment during the specified period applicable for each fiscal year. (4) Be in compliance with conservation and wetland protection requirements on all their land (5) Be a citizen of or legal resident alien of the U.S. Eligible commodities include any agricultural commodity (including horticulture, aquaculture, and floriculture) food, feed, fiber, livestock (including elk, reindeer, bison, horses, and deer), insects or products thereof. The U.S. farmers and ranchers outside the continental U.S. (the 48 contiguous U.S.) receive the ultimate benefit from the program because they operate at a competitive disadvantage relative to farmers and ranchers in the continental U.S. This disadvantage is due to the high cost of transporting agricultural commodities from those areas to markets in the continental U.S. and in other countries, and the high cost of transporting agricultural inputs to those areas. Geographically disadvantage farmers and ranchers located in Hawaii, Alaska, or an insular area such as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Virgin Islands of the U.S. are the primary beneficiaries. To be eligible for RTCP, a producer must be a farmer or rancher in an insular area, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. The disadvantaged farmer or rancher must produce an eligible agricultural commodity, incur transportation cost for the transportation of the agricultural commodity or input used to produce the agricultural commodity. The producer must also meet adjusted gross income and pay limit eligibility requirements up to an $8,000 per producer cap and be in compliance with wetland and highly erodible land requirements. The producer must also submit an accurate and complete application FSA-218 by the application deadline for the applicable Fiscal Year. CCC-770 Eligibility must be completed for each producer before RTCP is approved. Each producer requesting payment must certify to the accuracy and truthfulness of the information in their application and any supporting documentation. Producers who submit actual costs for reimbursement at the actual cost rate, must provide verifiable records. Failure or refusal to allow FSA to verify the information provided will result in a denial of eligibility. Furnishing the information is voluntary; however, without it program benefits will not be approved. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. An application for payment must be submitted on a completed application form. Applications and any other supporting documentation must be submitted to the FSA county office that services the county where the agricultural operation is located, but, in any case, must be received by the FSA county office by the close of business on the last day of the application period established by the Deputy Administrator. An application received after the close of business after the application period will not be eligible for benefits. Eligibility reimbursement amount will be calculated by multiplying the number of units of the reported transportation amount times the applicable transportation fixed, set, or actual rate times the applicable non-foreign area cost of living allowance or post differential (COLA). Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Not applicable. From 15 to 30 days. The appellant must submit a written request asking the next level reviewing authority within FSA to review a decision. The appeal regulations are specified in 7CFR parts 11 and 780 apply to determinations for RTCP. Not applicable. Not applicable. RTCP provides monetary assistance to geographically disadvantaged farmers and ranchers by reimbursing them for a portion of the transportation cost of their agricultural commodity, or transported inputs used to produce an agricultural commodity during the fiscal year. The payments provided by RTCP are intended to offset a portion of the high cost of transporting inputs for production purposes and transporting products to markets. The types of transportation rates used to determine reimbursable amounts are: (1) Actual transportation rates which are based on the actual costs incurred by the applicant and must be determined in all cases from verifiable records. (2) Fixed transportation rates are determined by FSA and will establish per unit transportation costs for each eligible commodity or input used to produce the eligible commodity. (3) Set transportation rates are established for those transportation costs that are not on the FSA list of fixed rates and for which a actual rate cannot be documented. They will be set by FSA based on available data of transportation costs similar commodities and inputs. Not applicable. Not applicable. Persons applying for RTCP payments must maintain records and accounts to document all eligibility requirements for three years after the date of payment to the producer. Statutory Formula: Title 7 Chapter VII Part 755

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. There are no restrictions placed on the time permitted to spend the money awarded. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Lump. Consult the appropriate FSA State office where the property is located. For a list of FSA State offices with telephone numbers and addresses, information is available on the internet, visit FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov to locate nearest office. Douglas E. Kilgore
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250 USA
Douglas.E.Kilgore@usda.gov
Phone: (202) 720-9011

Angela Pope
1400 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20250 USA
Angela.Pope@usda.gov
Phone: (202) 720-0482 http://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/price-support/RTCP-Program/index 12-2701-0-1-351 (Direct Payments with Unrestricted Use) FY 22$3,000,000.00; FY 23 est $4,000,000.00; FY 24 est $0.00; FY 21$2,000,000.00; FY 20$2,000,000.00; FY 19$1,996,000.00; FY 18$1,996,000.00; FY 17$1,996,000.00; FY 16$1,904,955.00; - Not applicable/available. Regulations, Guidelines, and Literature Description is required field 7 CFR Part 755. Not applicable.