USDA AGAIN EXTENDS FARM OPERATING PLAN DEADLINE The U.S. Agriculture Department said it has extended until April 17 the date by which Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation county offices must determine eligibility of individuals or other entities for payments under 1987 farm programs. Jerome Sitter, director of ASCS's Cotton, Grain and Rice Price Support Division, said the decision meant farmers have until April 17 to file a farm operating plan indicating how many persons would be involved in their farming operations. Earlier this year USDA extended the deadline to April 1 from March 1, Sitter said. ASCA Administrator Milton Hertz said in a statement that the extension was necessary because of heavy workloads at county ASCS offices. Hertz said ASCS county officials "have had to make a large number of eligibility determinations for individuals and other entities, such as corporations and partnerships, in preparation for imposing the 50,000-dlr-per-entity cap." "These offices already had a very heavy workload due to the large number of applications for both the 1987 farm programs and the Conservation Reserve Program," Hertz said.