| MMM 338 | August 20, 1996 |
Yesterday Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman announced that 98.8
percent of the eligible acreage of wheat, feed grains, cotton and rice has
been enrolled in 7-year production flexibility contracts under the 1996 Farm
Bill. Final 1996 payments will be delivered to producers by the end of
September. These should be fractionally larger than the estimated payment,
which was based on 100 percent enrollment.
Below are U.S. sign-up numbers by crop:
1996 Contract Enrollment Report: Summary
Number of farms Contract Acres
Crop Total Enrolled Percent Total Enrolled Percent
Wheat 1,042,042 953,995 91.6 77,345,101 76,673,982 99.1
Corn 1,389,100 1,235,795 89.0 82,084,594 80,726,420 98.3
Sorghum 368,948 343,724 93.2 13,246,904 13,093,078 98.8
Barley 234,881 216,309 92.1 10,640,419 10,528,502 98.9
Oats 572,017 513,334 89.7 6,364,769 6,176,378 97.0
Cotton 169,655 164,632 97.0 16,302,861 16,202,154 99.4
Rice 22,669 22,382 98.7 4,176,420 4,157,904 99.6
Total 1,887,194 1,681,921 89.1 210,161,067 207,558,418 98.8
South Carolina enrollment at 98.1 percent was a slightly lower rate than
nationally or for surrounding states. My guess is that this is because of a
higher proportion of farms with very small acreage bases in the state. Below
are South Carolina enrollment statistics by crop:
1996 Contract Enrollment Report: South Carolina
Number of farms Contract Acres
Crop Total Enrolled Percent Total Enrolled Percent
Wheat 15,640 13,340 85.3 396,709 388,338 97.9
Corn 18,616 15,528 83.4 503,893 493,141 97.9
Sorghum 3,330 2,787 83.7 18,243 17,281 94.7
Barley 1,863 1,562 83.8 12,473 11,953 95.8
Oats 6,166 5,229 84.8 34,177 32,642 95.5
Cotton 4,804 4,563 95.0 247,007 246,041 99.6
Total 23,207 18,852 81.2 1,212,504 1,189,399 98.1
