U.S. Pea Growers Snap Up LDPs

WASHINGTON - Dec 17/04 - SNS -- Use of the farm program by field pea producers in the United States is up sharply this season, with the majority of producers opting to forgo a USDA marketing assistance loan and getting a loan deficiency payment (LDP) instead.

In the latest USDA Vegetables and Melons Outlook, Gary Lucier of the USDA's Economic Research Service says, "Through December 10, there were 4,955 LDPs made covering 12.1 million cwt (almost 549,000 metric tons - MT) of dry peas. With an average payment rate of $2.37 per cwt (100 pound units), the value of these LDPs was $28.6 million."

This exceeds the USDA field pea production estimate of 527,000 MT because "LDPs are available for wrinkled seed peas (for which NASS does not publish production estimates until January) and because NASS production estimates only cover the major producing States, excluding an estimated 20,000-30,000 acres scattered across a number of States."

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