By Eads USDA Service Center Staff

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• County Committee Meeting - 2^nd Tuesday each month.
• February 3^rd -  NRCS deadline for CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program)
• February 17^th – NRCS deadline for EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program)
• March 15^th – 2017 NAP application date for Spring Crops
• March 15^th – July 15^th -  CRP Primary Nesting Season – NO Activity permitted on CRP
•  March 31^st - Last day to request LDP or Marketing Loan for 2016 wheat.
• CRP Continuous Signup - Lesser Prairie Chicken, CRP Grassland and HELI (Highly Erodible Land Initiative) acre available.  Producers interested are urged to contact FSA Office. 

Disclaimer:  Information in this UPDATE is pertinent to Kiowa County FSA only.  Producers reading this and that do not have FSA interest in Kiowa County are advised to contact their local FSA Office.

COUNTY COMMITTEE ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

The FSA County Committee met on Wednesday, January 18^th for the yearly Organizational Meeting.  A Chairperson, Vice- Chairperson and Regular Member are named at the meeting along with other items of business.

For 2017 –

• Destiny (Duff) Haase, – will serve as County Committee Chairperson and Minority Advisor for the Committee.
• Sean Harkness – will serve as Vice-Chairperson.
• Michael Zimmerman – will serve as Regular Member.

Michael is the newest member to the Committee, as he was elected in December to represent producers in LAA 3 (County Rd 27 –west to county line).    He replaces Jeff Salisbury who served for 9 consecutive years. 

The Committee set the 2^nd Tuesday of each month as the monthly meeting date.

CRP Payment Limitation

Payments and benefits received under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are subject to the following:

• payment limitation by direct attribution
• foreign person rule
• average adjusted gross income (AGI) limitation

The 2014 Farm Bill continued the $50,000 maximum CRP payment amount that can be received annually, directly or indirectly, by each person or legal entity.  This payment limitation includes all annual rental payments and incentive payments (Sign-up Incentive Payments and Practice Incentive Payments).  Annual rental payments are attributed (earned) in the fiscal year in which program performance occurs.  Sign-up Incentive Payments (SIP) are attributed (earned) based on the fiscal year in which the contract is approved, not the fiscal year the contract is effective.  Practice Incentive Payments (PIP) are attributed (earned) based on the fiscal year in which the cost-share documentation is completed and the producer or technical service provider certifies performance of practice completion to the county office.

Such limitation on payments is controlled by direct attribution.

• Program payments made directly or indirectly to a person are combined with the pro rata interest held in any legal entity that received payment, unless the payments to the legal entity have been reduced by the pro rata share of the person. 
• Program payments made directly to a legal entity are attributed to those persons that have a direct and indirect interest in the legal entity, unless the payments to the legal entity have been reduced by the pro rata share of the person. 
• Payment attribution to a legal entity is tracked through four levels of ownership.  If any part of the ownership interest at the fourth level is owned by another legal entity, a reduction in payment will be applied to the payment entity in the amount that represents the indirect interest of the fourth level entity in the payment entity. 

Essentially, all payments will be “attributed” to a person’s Social Security Number.  Given the current CRP annual rental rates in many areas, it is important producers are aware of how CRP offered acreages impact their $50,000 annual payment limitation.  Producers should contact their local FSA office for additional information.

NOTE:  The information in the above article only applies to contracts subject to 4-PL and 5-PL regulations. It does not apply to contacts subject to 1-PL regulations.

FARM LOAN PERSONNEL

Due to workload and staffing shortage there will not be a monthly Farm Loan employee presence in Kiowa County.  Producers needing Farm Loan information on loans or other information are urged to call the FSA Office in Lamar @ 719-336-3437 and schedule an appointment.  When the monthly visits resume in Kiowa County, it will be noted in the UPDATE. 

LDP RATES

The LDP rate for the past week has been zero.  The Kansas City and Gulf market prices have been up – therefore the posted county price will reflect the rise in markets.   

The website to check daily LDP rates is as follows:

 http://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/price-support/ldp-rates/index

USDA SERVICE CENTER CONTACT INFORMATION

Telephone 719-438-5851 FSA (Ext 2), NRCS (Ext 3). FSA Fax number: fax2mail 844-332-7501

E-mail individuals firstname.lastname@co.usda.gov (Example firstname.lastname@co.usda.gov, dawna.weirich, charla.ferris, hallie.barlow, marvin.watson, marlin.miller

KIOWA COUNTY FARM LOAN CONTACT INFO – CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT

Telephone 719-336-3437 (ext2) Natalie Bond; natalie.bond@co.usda.gov; Mary Rhoades, mary.rhoades@co.usda.gov

SERVICE CENTER OFFICE HOURS: 

Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  By appointment only on Friday.

FSA INFORMATION

For information on programs visit our website located at www.fsa.usda.gov or like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.