Wool LDPs Available

Marketing Assistance Loans (MAL) or Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) for 2010 sheared wool and mohair are available. Unshorn pelts from lambs slaughtered in 2010 are only eligible for LDPs. The 2010 crop year for wool, mohair and unshorn pelts began on Jan. 1, 2010, and ends on Dec. 31, 2010.

The 2008 Farm Bill raised the loan rate for graded wool from $1 per pound to $1.15 per pound during crop years 2010 through 2012. Unlike previous years, there will be no regional loan rate differentials for 2010 through 2012 graded and ungraded wool.

The national loan rate for ungraded wool through the 2012 crop year is $.40 per pound.

Marketing loans are nine-month loans that provide interim financing for eligible producers, allowing them to store their products in order to market those products when prices are optimal. 

An LDP is the difference between the loan rate at a given location and the announced market price for the applicable commodity. LDPs are announced weekly in the American Sheep Industry Association newsletter.

LDP benefits are available through local Farm Service Agency Service Centers.
Reprinted in part from Tri-State Livestock News