U.S. Farm Officials Won't Extend Tobacco Buyout Deadline

Source from:  The Associated Press 06/20/2005

Federal officials will not extend Friday's deadline for signing up to receive 2005 tobacco buyout payments as requested by a black farmers group. The National Black Farmers Association believes not enough was done to contact eligible minorities. The group said only about 60 percent of some 3,700 eligible black growers and quota holders had signed up by Friday's deadline. John Boyd, a Virginia farmer and president of the association, said more town hall meetings were needed to reach elderly people and others who might not be aware of the deadline. Officials with the U.S. Farm Services Agency, which handled sign ups at county offices, ran TV and radio ads - including on minority outlets, print ads, and held 48 town hall meetings across 17 states over the past several months. Another six public meetings were held with Boyd's group, they said. Mike Yost, associate administrator at the FSA in Washington, said Boyd first raised his concerns with the agency Friday. "We haven't been approached by any county office of a need to extend the program," Yost said. Boyd called the decision a bad one. "The department continues to be insensitive to a group of people that needs help out there," he said. Congress passed buyout legislation and President Bush signed it last fall. Some 80,000 North Carolina farmers and landowners are expected to sign up for buyout payments. About $3.9 billion is available for those eligible in the state, the nation's largest tobacco producer. Enditem