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USDA RELEASES PAYMENT RATES FOR TECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDERS “Not to Exceed” Payment Rates Established for Each State
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2003—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today released “not to exceed”
payment rates for certified technical service providers to offer technical
services for certain conservation practices.
The 2002 Farm Bill expanded the availability of technical assistance to
producers by encouraging the use of third parties—called technical service
providers—to assist USDA in delivering conservation technical services to
farmers and ranchers.
“These payment rates will be provided to USDA conservation program participants
to help them choose competitively priced services,” said NRCS Chief Bruce
Knight. “We worked hard to ensure these rates reflect current market conditions
for the delivery of these services. Technical service providers can help us get
the maximum amount of conservation on the ground at the least cost.”
“Not to exceed” payment rates for categories of technical services were
established for each state. As part of the process to ensure consistency across
state lines, NRCS reviewed payment rates between adjacent states where similar
resource conditions and agricultural operations exist, taking into account
differences in state laws, the cost of doing business, competition and other
variables.
The rates were established using NRCS’ Technical Assistance Cost of Conservation
Practices (TACCP) database, which reflects the agency’s total cost to provide
technical assistance for conservation practices. TACCP uses cost information of
sub-state areas, which reflect common natural resource, regulatory, geographic,
social and economic factors. These factors affect the time needed to plan and
implement conservation practices.
“This is a dynamic process,” Knight said. “USDA is accepting comments from the
public on these rates and will make adjustments.”
“Not to exceed” rates can be found at
http://www.tsp-nte.nrcs.usda.gov/.
Comments can be sent to Liu-Hsiung Chuang, USDA-NRCS, Resource Economics and
Social Sciences Division, 1400 Independence Ave., Room 6141-S, Washington, D.C.
20250, phone: 202-720-7076, e-mail:
Liu-Hsiung.Chuang@usda.gov. Information on the technical service provider
process can be found at
http://techreg.usda.gov. Information on the 2002 Farm Bill is available at
http://www.usda.gov/farmbill.
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