RUMFORD – Loan deficiency payments are available to eligible producers of nongraded wool in the form of unshorn pelts for the 2002 through 2007 crop years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

An unshorn pelt is the removed skin and attached wool from a slaughtered lamb that has never been shorn. Eligible producers of unshorn pelts who lost beneficial interest before the end of the 2002 crop year are eligible to request a loan deficiency payment based on the date beneficial interest was lost in the unshorn lamb.

The final loan availability date to request an LDP for unshorn pelts is January 31 of the year following the year in which the unshorn lamb is slaughtered.

To be eligible for LDPs for unshorn pelts, producers must comply with Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation provisions. They also must have beneficial interest in the commodity; own the unshorn lamb for at least 30 days before the date of slaughter; and sell the unshorn lamb for immediate slaughter or slaughter the unshorn lamb for personal use. In addition, the unshorn pelt must be produced from a live unshorn lamb of domestic origin in the United States at the time beneficial interest is lost.

For more information on this and other USDA Farm Service Agency programs, please contact Oxford USDA Farm Service Agency, 1570 Main St., Suite 10, Oxford, ME or visit FSA’s Web Site at www.fsa.usda.gov