The USDA is offering soybean producers the opportunity to request a referendum on the Soybean Promotion and Research Order as authorized under the Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act. The request for referendum will be conducted at Farm Service Agency county offices. To be eligible to participate, producers must certify and provide documentation that shows that they produced soybeans and paid an assessment on the soybeans during the period of Jan. 1, 2002, through Dec. 31, 2003. Only those producers who desire a referendum on the order will participate. Beginning May 3, and continuing through May 28, 2004, producers may obtain a form to request a referendum from the county office staff either in person or by sending a request by mail or fax. Forms may also be obtained from . Individual producers and other producer entities may request a referendum at the county office where their administrative farm records are maintained. For the producer not participating in FSA programs, the opportunity to request will be provided at the County FSA Office where the producer owns or rents land. Mail-in requests must be postmarked by May 28 and received in the county office by June 7. All other requests made by fax or in person, must be received by May 28. The USDA will conduct a referendum on the order, if at least 10 percent of the more than 663,000 soybean producers request the referendum, provided that no more than one-fifth be producers from one state. The request for referendum is mandated by the act. The act requires that the secretary of agriculture conduct a request for referendum every five years after the initial referendum, which was conducted in 1994.
