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RTCP deadline extended for NMI producers
BARRIGADA, Guam—Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Farm Service Agency County executive director Thomas Camacho announced Wednesday the extension of the deadline to sign up for Reimbursement of Transportation Cost Payment, or RTCP, to Oct. 9, 2015, for CNMI producers. This extension will assist producers who have had problems accessing communication systems following Typhoon Soudelor and may have missed the program deadline.
The program offsets portions of the costs of transporting agricultural products over long distances. The program allows farmers and ranchers in Alaska, Hawaii and insular areas including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands of the United States, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau, to recover transportation costs.
Payments are calculated based on the costs incurred for transportation of the agricultural commodity or inputs, subject to an $8,000 per producer cap per federal fiscal year. In the event that claims for payments exceed the funds available from the program for a fiscal year, payments will be reduced on a pro-rata basis. Applicants will have until Nov. 2, 2015, to provide supporting documentation.
For more information on the RTCP, farmers and ranchers in the eligible areas can contact their FSA county office at (670) 234-0896 or review the fact sheet online at www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/rtcp_2015.pdf. To find your local FSA county office, visit http://offices.usda.gov. (FSA)
