Enrollment for the 2007 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment Program (DCP) began Oct. 1 and will continue through June 1.

Amber Waller, director of the Moore-Montgomery Farm Ser-vice Agency, says farmers are encouraged to sign up for the program through the online DCP sign-up service.

"Producers will find the Internet-based DCP sign-up service convenient and very user friendly," Waller said. "The service is an example of the strides USDA is taking to make its programs more accessible, and I encourage producers with Internet access to use the system."

After the June 1, 2007, deadline, USDA will accept late applications throught Sept. 30, with a $100 late fee. Although DCP participants must sign DCP contracts annually, producers can choose not to participate in any given year.

Producers can visit any USDA Service Center or their administratively assigned center, to complete their 2007 DCP contracts.

Signup can also be done online, allowing producers to choose payment options, assign crop shares and sign and submit their contracts from any computer with Internet access. DCP participants can view and print out submitted contract options at any time.

Waller says electronic DCP (or eDCP) service saves producers time, reduces paperwork and speeds up contract processing at USDA Farm Service Agency offices. It is available to all producers who are eligible to participate in DCP and who obtain eAuthentication accounts. The service has strict security measures to protect each participant's private information, Waller adds. Only authorized federal employees have access to information producers submit electronically.

The electronic service is available by going to www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=online&subject=landing&topic=dcp and clicking on "Access eDCP Service."

To access the service, producers must have an active USDA eAuthentication Level 2 account, which requires filling out an online registration form at http://www.eauth.egov.usda.gov followed by a visit to the local USDA Service Center for identity verification.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture computes DCP payments using base acres and payment yields established for each farm. Producers receive direct payments at rates established by statute regardless of market prices.

For 2007 eligible producers may ask to receive advance payments based on 22 percent of the direct-payment rate for each commodity associated with the farm. USDA will issue DCP direct advance payments beginning Dec. 1.

Counter-cyclical payment rates vary depending on market prices. Counter-cyclical payments are issued only when the effective price (which takes into account the direct payment rate, market price and loan rate) for a commodity is below its target price.

In more than four years since the 2002 Farm Bill authorized CDP, USDA has issued about $30 billion in DCP payments to America's agricultural producers.

The Moore-Montgomery FSA office is in the Moore County Agriculture Center on Pinehurst Avenue in Carthage.