Agriculture USDA Service Center Update

USDA Update – April 18, 2023

Eads USDA Service Center Staff

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

  • EMERGENCY GRAZING AVAILABLE ON CERTAIN CRP CONTRACTS -  after March 15th -  50% reduced stocking rate
  • 2023 Livestock Forage Program or LFP – Kiowa eligible
  • CRP GRASSLANDS SIGNUP - begins April 17, 2023, ends May 26, 2023
  • ERP Phase 2 and PARP Deadline - June 2, 2023                                                               

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. 

THE USDA SERVICE CENTER HAS A DROP BOX AVAILABLE ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE BUILDING. 

DROUGHT MONITOR

This week’s Drought Monitor shows some red or D3 – extreme drought intensity in a large part of Pueblo County and other surrounding areas. 

LIVESTOCK FORAGE PROGRAM or LFP SIGNUP

Kiowa County has triggered for 2023 LFP due to the ongoing drought conditions. The county is eligible for a 3-month payment on native grass. Producers interested in applying should contact the FSA office.  Producers with livestock and grazing acres are eligible to apply for LFP before January 30, 2024.

ELIGIBLE COUNTIES FOR DROUGHT

An eligible livestock owner or contract grower who, as a grazed forage crop producer, owns or leases grazing land or pastureland physically located in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a: 

  • D2 (severe drought) intensity in any area of the county for at least eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period is eligible to receive assistance in an amount equal to one monthly payment. 
  • D3 (extreme drought) intensity in any area of the county at any time during the normal grazing period is eligible to receive assistance in an amount equal to three monthly payments. 
  • D3 (extreme drought) intensity in any area of the county for at least four weeks during the normal grazing period or is rated a D4 (exceptional drought) intensity at any time during the normal grazing period is eligible to receive assistance in an amount equal  to four monthly payments: or
  • D4 (exceptional drought) in a county for four weeks (not necessarily four consecutive weeks) during the normal grazing period is eligible to receive assistance in an amount equal to five monthly payments.

ELIGIBLE LIVESTOCK

Eligible livestock are grazing animals that satisfy the majority of net energy requirement of nutrition via grazing of forage grasses or legumes and include such species as alpacas, beef cattle, buffalo/ bison, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, reindeer or sheep. Within those species animals that are eligible include those that are or would have been grazing the eligible grazing land or pastureland:

  • During the normal grazing period for the specific type of grazing land or pastureland for the county.

To apply for LFP, the eligible producer must provide FSA with the number of grazing animals as of April 15, 2023.  The livestock claimed must be WEANED livestock, which in most cases will not include 2023 calves on the ground.  

ELIGIBLE PRODUCERS 

To be eligible for LFP, persons or legal entities must be a U.S. citizen, resident alien, partnership of U.S. citizens, a legal entity organized under State law.

  • Own, cash or share lease, or be a contract grower of covered livestock during the 60 calendar days before the beginning date of a qualifying drought or  fire. 
  • Provide pastureland or grazing land for covered livestock, including cash-rented pastureland or grazing land as of the date of the qualifying drought  or fire that is either: 
  • Physically located in a county affected by a qualifying drought during the normal grazing period for the county; or 
  • Certify that they have suffered a grazing loss because of a qualifying drought or fire; and
  • Timely file an acreage report for all grazing land for which a grazing loss is being claimed.

USDA Announces Grassland Conservation Reserve Program Signup for 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that agricultural producers and private landowners can begin signing up for the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) starting April 17, 2023 through May 26, 2023. Among CRP enrollment opportunities, Grassland CRP is a unique working lands program, allowing producers and landowners to continue grazing and haying practices while conserving grasslands and promoting plant and animal biodiversity as well as healthier soil.

“Grassland CRP clearly demonstrates that agricultural productivity and conservation priorities can not only coexist but also complement and enhance one another,” said Zach Ducheneaux, Administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “The strength of this program lies in its many benefits — through annual rental payments, the program helps producers and landowners produce and maintain diverse wildlife habitat, sequester carbon in the soil, and support sound, sustainable grazing. These benefits help keep agricultural lands in production while delivering lasting climate outcomes.”

More than 3.1 million acres were accepted through the 2022 Grassland CRP signup from agricultural producers and private landowners. That signup—the highest ever for the program—reflects the continued success and value of investments in voluntary, producer-led, working lands conservation programs. The current total participation in Grassland CRP is 6.3 million acres, which is part of the 23 million acres enrolled in CRP opportunities overall.

Since 2021, USDA’s FSA, which administers all CRP programs, has made several improvements to Grassland CRP to broaden the program’s reach, including:

  • Creating two National Priority Zones to put focus on environmentally sensitive land such as that prone to wind erosion.
  • Enhancing offers with 10 additional ranking points to producers and landowners who are historically underserved, including beginning farmers and military veterans.
  • Leveraging the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to engage historically underserved communities within Tribal Nations in the Great Plains.

How to Sign Up for Grassland CRP

Landowners and producers interested in Grassland CRP, or any other CRP enrollment option, should contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more or to apply for the program before the deadlines.  

Producers with expiring CRP acres can enroll in the Transition Incentives Program (TIP), which incentivizes producers who sell or enter into a long-term lease with a beginning, veteran, or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher who plans to sustainably farm or ranch the land.

KIOWA COUNTY FARM SERVICE AGENCY COUNTY COMMITTEE

  • Sean Harkness – LAA 1 – East area – Committee Chairperson
  • Destiny Haase - LAA 2 – Central area – Committee Vice-Chairperson
  • Michael Zimmerman – LAA 3 – West area – Committee Regular Member

USDA SERVICE CENTER CONTACT INFORMATION

409 E Lowell Ave.

PO Box 188 – Eads, CO  81036

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

FSA - Farm Service Agency  

NRCS – Natural Resource Conservation Service

KIOWA COUNTY FARM LOAN CONTACT INFO – CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT

Telephone 719-336-3437 (ext. 2) 

Mary Rhoades, mary.rhoades@usda.gov, 

Nicole Lubbers, nicole.lubbers@usda.gov

SERVICE CENTER OFFICE HOURS:  

Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  

RECEIVE USDA INFORMATION

Visit website www.Farmers.gov  for up-to-date information for FSA/NRCS programs.

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Subscribe to GovDelivery emails:  Visit www.fsa.usda.gov/subscribe  or contact your local FSA Office. 

For information on programs visit our website located at www.fsa.usda.gov or like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.  USDA is an equal opportunity employer.

Agriculture Kiowa County Eads Haswell Sheridan Lake USDA Column