By Eads USDA Service Center Staff

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• County Committee Meeting - 2^nd Tuesday each month.
• March 14^th -  Farm Loan personnel in Eads
• 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.

MARCH 15^th !

March 15^th is approaching fast and there are a few important reminders. 

• NAP application deadline for 2017 spring crops, such as common millet, sorghum forage, and dual purpose sorghum.  Producers interested in purchasing a policy need to visit the office prior to the March 15^th deadline. These are crops that are not insurable through Federal Crop Insurance but are insurable through FSA with a Non Insured Assistance Program (NAP) application.  .  Socially disadvantaged producers including women and beginning farmers and ranchers the application service is waived and buy-up coverage is reduced by half.  The application service fee is $250.0 per producer, per crop. 
• CRP Primary Nesting Season – March 14^th – July 15^th there can be no activity on enrolled CRP (except CRP grasslands).  No contract management such as harrowing, disking or inter-seeding can be completed during these three months.  Producers are not authorized for routine grazing until July 15^th.  Any unauthorized uses can result in penalties assessed to the CRP producers or termination of the contract.  CRP producers are reminded that is unauthorized grazing does occur, FSA will contact CRP producer not the owner of the livestock.  It is the CRP participant’s responsibility to maintain fences. 

FARM RECORDS

This is the time of the year in which the staff works on farm records changes.  If you have any unreported changes in your farm operation, like the addition of a farm by lease or purchase, the changes need to report the change(s) to the FSA office.  Producers participating in FSA and NRCS programs are required to timely report changes in their farming operation to the County Committee in writing and update their CCC-902 Farm Operating Plan.  

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.  

Filing a Notice of Loss

The CCC-576, Notice of Loss, is used to report failed acreage and prevented planting and may be completed by any producer with an interest in the crop. Timely filing a Notice of Loss is required for all crops including grasses. For losses on crops covered by the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), you must file a CCC-576, Notice of Loss, in the FSA County Office within 15 days of the occurrence of the disaster or when losses become apparent or 15 calendar days after the normal harvest date.

This notification can be provided by filing a CCC-576, email, fax or phone. Producers who notify the County Office by any method other than by filing the CCC-576 are still required to file a CCC-576, Notice of Loss, within the required 15 calendar days.

If filing for prevented planting, an acreage report and CCC-576 must be filed within 15 calendar days of the final planting date for the crop. 

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

Kiowa County FSA  Committee

• Destiny Haase -  LAA 2 – Central area – Committee Chairperson
• Sean Harkness – LAA 1 – East area – Committee Vice-Chairperson
• Michael Zimmerman – LAA3 – West area – Committee Regular Memebr

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) 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.