By Brenda Carlson, Regional Public Affairs Specialist

Steve Connelly, Deputy Administrator for Field Operations (DAFO), recently traveled to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) office in Rogers County Oklahoma to witness first-hand and assist in executing the new online direct and countercyclical payment sign-up process. eDCP is the electronic application process that allows producers to sign up their farms for federal farm program payments from their home or business computer.

According to Connelly, "This process is remarkably easy to use. As Crop Reporting comes online in 2009, this has the potential to reduce producer trips to the County Office. County Office employees are still required to certify contracts and input supporting data in order to make the software work, but reducing trips to the office will be advantageous for the producers we serve."

Jim Reese, State Executive Director (SED) for Oklahoma FSA and Connelly signed up two farms from a remote county in less than 18 minutes. Reese appreciated Connelly observing and assisting in the local County Office, "It is great to have the Deputy Administrator come out and see how easy the process is to use. It makes it much easier to promote when you have seen it in action." He also agreed that the crop reporting tool will greatly enhance the experience for producers wanting to initiate their own contracts from home.

Producers who elect to use the eDCP contract application process can choose payment options, assign crop shares and submit their contracts from any computer with internet access. The eDCP service has stringent security measures to protect participants' private, personal information.

Tammy Ray and Debbie Thomas, Program Technicians in the Rogers County FSA office assisted Reese and Connelly with the eDCP process. Both agree that processing DCP contracts online is surprisingly easy and user-friendly.

"The process runs as smoothly for the producers at home as it does for us here in the office," said Thomas. "Depending on a producer's internet speed, it is possible to process a contract from home or work in ten minutes or less."

The Rogers County FSA office provides services to producers in Tulsa County as well. Agriculture operations in the area are comprised of wheat, soybeans, corn, pecans and livestock. Ray and Thomas expect to process more than 500 DCP contracts for producers this year. Offering producers the option to process contracts online at their leisure will save FSA employees valuable time and resources - affording staff the opportunity to address other pressing issues in the office.

"Like many of us, our producers are often hesitant to embrace change and they have grown accustomed to conducting business face-to-face in our offices, but I think that having the added convenience of online services will be viewed as a plus by many," said Ray. "They [producers] are no longer obligated to visit the office during business hours; they can conduct their business from any computer with internet access any time of the day or night."

The eDCP service is available to all producers who are eligible to participate in DCP and who obtain eAuthentication accounts through FSA. The electronic service is available by going to http://www.fsa.usda.gov/edcp and clicking on "Access eDCP Service."

For more information, contact your local FSA County office.

Steve Connelly, Deputy Administrator for Field Operations (standing center), Tammy Ray and Debbie Thomas, Program Technicians in Rogers County Okla. Look on as Jim Reese, State Executive Director (seated) demonstrates the ease of processing DCP contracts online.