By Eads USDA Service Center Staff

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• County Committee Meeting – RESCHEDULED TO – May 23^th- 9:00 a.m.
• FARM LOAN Personnel in Kiowa County Service Center – June 13th 
• May 31^st – final date to request Marketing Assistance Loan for corn, grain sorghum and sunflowers.
• March 15^th – July 15^th -  CRP Primary Nesting Season – NO Activity permitted on CRP
• August 1 -  2017 ARCPLC enrollment deadline
• CRP Continuous Signup - Lesser Prairie Chicken, CRP Grassland acres are 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.

WEATHER

The weekend snow storm that crippled parts of western Kansas and SE Colorado left the path of devastation for that areas farmers and ranchers.   We are hearing reports of lost heads of cattle and the winter wheat crop damage.  Here in Kiowa County, by Sunday afternoon there was hardly any evidence left that we had snow storm on Saturday, travel 50 miles east or south of Eads and it was a completely different story. 

CROP LOSSES

A Notice of Loss (NOL) on form FSA-576 for crop damage for insured crops through Federal Crop Insurance will need to be completed at the FSA Office, after the crop adjuster determines the appraised value and it is determined the crop will not be taken to harvest.

A Notice of Loss (NOL) for crops insured through the Non Insured Assistance Program (NAP) with the Farm Service Agency MUST be filed with 15 days from the date the loss is apparent.  Failure to submit the NOL timely can result in loss of benefits. 

LIVESTOCK INDEMNITY PROGRAM

Producers who suffered livestock losses during the storm last week, contact your local Farm Service Agency regarding those losses and for information on the LIP program. 

The 2014 Farm Bill authorized the Livestock Indemnity Program (KIP) to provide benefits to livestock producers for livestock death in excess of normal mortality caused by eligible loss conditions, including eligible adverse weather.  LIP payments are equal to 75 percent of the market value of the applicable livestock. 

ELIGIBLITY

To be eligible for LIP, a livestock producers must have legally owned the eligible livestock on the day the livestock died.  To be eligible, an owner’s livestock must:

• Have died in excess of normal mortality as a direct result of an eligible loss conditions that occurred
  • No later than 60 calendar days from the ending date of the adverse weather event. 
  • Have been maintained for commercial use as part of a farming operation on the day they died, and
  • Not have been produced for reason other than commercial use.  Excluded livestock includes
    • Wild free-roaming animals
    • Pets or animal used for recreational purposes, such as hunting, roping or for show. 

APPLICATION

Producers may apply to receive LIP benefits at their local FSA office.   To be eligible, a notice of loss must be submitted 30 calendar days of when the loss livestock is first apparent to the producer.   Applicants must provide adequate proof that the eligible livestock deaths occurred as a direct result of the eligible event.   Third party verification can be submitted on form CCC-854, there are specific conditions that render a third party verification.  The documentation portion can be the difficult part of the application process; therefore it is important to contact your FSA office for all the acceptable forms of verification of death of the livestock. 

I urge producers to read the FACT SHEET on the LIP program on the FSA website www.fsa.usda.gov under Popular Topics, click on Fact Sheets, scroll down to the Livestock program and click on the LIP program fact sheet. 

Kiowa County Conservation District Annual Meeting

Kiowa County Conservation District annual meeting will be at 8:00AM Wednesday, May 17 at the Cobblestone Inn in Eads.  Scott Haley, Colorado State University Wheat Breeder will be there discussing the CSU wheat breeding program.  Kiowa County Conservation District will also be hosting the Local Work Group meeting following the annual meeting.   The Local Work Group provides recommendations to USDA NRCS on local natural resource priorities and assists in making funding distributions for focus areas. The information provided will be used in development of the FY2018 financial assistance and easement programs and your input is critical to effectively developing and implementing these programs.

MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS

Producers with warehouse and farm-stored marketing loans are encouraged to track the posted county price.  Producers contact the FSA office for more information for paying off loans at market price (aka FSA’s term) of PCP (posted county price) or with a commodity certificate exchange.    

•  The balance of the week the rate was zero effective LDP rate. 

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 Member

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.