USDA Update
By Eads USDA Service Center Staff
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
- County Committee Meeting - 2nd Tuesday each month.
- February 17th – NRCS deadline for EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program)
- March 15th – 2017 NAP application date for Spring Crops
- March 15th – July 15th - CRP Primary Nesting Season – NO Activity permitted on CRP
- March 31st - 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.
2017 ARCPLC Enrollment
Correction to last week’s article. The deadline to enroll your 2017 ARCPLC contracts is August 1st, NOT August 31st. The contracts are printed and ready for signatures. Stop into the office and complete your enrollment.
Farm Storage Facility Loan
The Farm Loan side of FSA will not be completing (FSFL) Farm Storage Facility Loan applications any longer. Producers wishing to apply for an FSFL loan or have inquiries are encouraged to visit the local FSA Office and visit with the CED or the Program Technician in charge of the program.
Maintaining the Quality of Farm-Stored Loan Grain
Bins are ideally designed to hold a level volume of grain. When bins are overfilled and grain is heaped up, airflow is hindered and the chance of spoilage increases.
Producers who take out marketing assistance loans and use the farm-stored grain as collateral should remember that they are responsible for maintaining the quality of the grain through the term of the loan.
Unauthorized Disposition of Grain
If grain under loan has been disposed of through feeding, selling or any other form of disposal without prior written authorization from the county office staff, it is considered unauthorized disposition. The financial penalties for unauthorized dispositions are severe and a producer’s name will be placed on a loan violation list for a two-year period. Always call before you haul any grain under loan.
Foreign Buyers Notification
The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) requires all foreign owners of U.S. agricultural land to report their holdings to the Secretary of Agriculture. The Farm Service Agency administers this program for USDA.
All individuals who are not U.S. citizens, and have purchased or sold agricultural land in the county are required to report the transaction to FSA with 90 days of the closing. Failure to submit the AFIDA form (FSA-153) could result in civil penalties of up to 25 percent of the fair market value of the property. County government offices, Realtors, attorneys and others involved in real estate transactions are reminded to notify foreign investors of these reporting requirements.
Breaking New Ground
Agricultural producers are reminded to consult with FSA and NRCS before breaking out new ground for production purposes as doing so without prior authorization may put a producer’s federal farm program benefits in jeopardy. This is especially true for land that must meet Highly Erodible Land (HEL) and Wetland Conservation (WC) provisions.
Producers with HEL determined soils are required to apply tillage, crop residue and rotational requirements as specified in their conservation plan.
Producers should notify FSA as a first point of contact prior to conducting land clearing or drainage type projects to ensure the proposed actions meet compliance criteria such as clearing any trees to create new cropland, then these areas will need to be reviewed to ensure such work will not risk your eligibility for benefits.
Landowners and operators complete the form AD-1026 - Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification to identify the proposed action and allow FSA to determine whether a referral to Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for further review is necessary.
POSTED COUNTY PRICE AND LDP RATES
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, Alicia.L.james
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.
