Producers that are enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and the Direct and Countercyclical Program will be receiving 2005 benefits this month.

CRP, or as it is now called CREP, provides landowners with an annual rental payment per acre as to the provisions of their contract. CREP is a 10 or 15 year contract that requires adequate vegetative cover, habitat for wildlife and noxious weed control. Harvesting and grazing is prohibited on CREP acreage.

DCP is an annual program. DCP payment rates were established in the 2002 farm bill.

Each participating farm has an acreage base for one or more program crops. Program crops are corn, soybeans, wheat, oats and barley.

The established program crop acreage base is multiplied by 85 percent and then multiplied by the direct payment rates for the final payment. Acreage bases are based upon planted acres reported timely to FSA.

When the 2002 Farm Bill was passed, producers that had been reporting acres were provided the opportunity to update bases and yields. For those producers that missed reporting in one or more years, the acreage base is probably not accurate. That is why it is important for producers to report planted acres each year.

Enrollment is now underway for the 2006 DCP with June 1 being the final enrollment date without the late fee.

As for CREP, it is an on-going enrollment in the Ohio River Watershed until 65,000 acres are enrolled. Interested producers can contact the office for enrollment details.

Worldwide, there are many strains of avian influenza virus that can cause varying amounts of clinical illness in poultry.AI viruses can infect chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese, and guinea fowl as well as wide variety of other birds. Migratory waterfowl have proved to be a natural reservoir for AI viruses.The viruses can be classified into low-pathogenicity (LPAI) and high-pathogenicity (HPAI) forms based on the severity of the illness they cause.Most AI virus strains are classified as LPAI and typically cause few or no clinical signs in infected birds. However, some LPAI virus strains are capable of mutating under field conditions into HPAI.Fact disease sheets are posted oh the Web site www.aphis.usda.gov.