By USDA Service Center Staff

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• USDA Service Center – CLOSED Friday, November 11^th – Observing Veteran’s Day
• CERTIFICATION 2017 fall crops - November 15^th – wheat, native grass, triticale, alfalfa crop deadline.
• USDA Service Center – CLOSED Thursday, November 24^th – Thanksgiving Day
• CRP Routine Grazing Period -   October 1 – November 30^th
• 2^nd Tuesday each month – FSA Farm Loan personnel in Kiowa County FSA Office. 
• CRP GRASSLANDS SIGNUP - Deadline for next ranking period - November 10^th.
• NAP policy deadline -  December 1^st, 2016 - Purchase 2017 policy for Alfalfa, Grass, Mixed Forage

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.

DROUGHT MONITOR

It is never good to be recognized on the U.S. Drought Monitor; however the western portion of Kiowa County was moved into a D1 status this past week.  It was noted that the area will be monitored closely and could move to a D2 quite quickly. The area affected could be expanded, as well.  The website to the U.S. Drought Monitor is http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/. The Kiowa County Press has also resumed regular drought reporting at KiowaCountyPress.net.

2017 FALL CERTIFICATION

The clock is ticking!  Producers who have not reported 2017 fall planted acres to either FSA or their crop insurance agent by November 15^th; will be charged a late-file fee of $46.00 per farm by FSA.   Producers with native grass who have not signed the FSA-578(s) by November 15^th; will also incur a late filed fee, per farm. 

2014 & 2015

Noninsured Crop Assistance Program (NAP) Refunds

This past week the office processed application for coverage refunds for 2014 and 2015.  The refunds were issued to women who purchased NAP policies for 2014 and 2015.  The 2014 Farm Bill waived the application fee for Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource and Beginning Farmer or Rancher.   If a direct deposit is on file with FSA; the refund will be deposited in that account. 

CRP CONTINUOUS SIGNUP – 50

CRP Continuous Signup #50 was announced October 1^st.  Land located in the Lesser Prairie Chicken area or HELI (Highly Erodible Land Initiative).  Land with a weighted soil erodibility number equal to or higher than 20 for the 3 predominant soils, qualify for this signup.  

Nationally, USDA is close the 24 million acre CAP that is mandated by the 2014 Farm Bill.    Producers who make offers to enroll into CRP will be ranked nationally; which is not the normal process for Continuous Signup’s.  However, currently there are 23.9 million acres enrolled; therefore the maximum CAP on acres is very close to being reached.  A General CRP signup in 2017 is highly unlikely.

The office encourages producers who are interested in offering land into Continuous CRP to contact the office so that paperwork can be initiated. 

CRP GRASSLANDS

There are 2 million acres allotted nationally for CRP Grasslands; the 2 million are part of the 24 million acre CAP.    The next ranking period deadline is Thursday, November 10th.  All current offers will be submitted for ranking.  Also, offers in the first ranking period that were not accepted will be resubmitted for ranking. Producers who have not submitted an offer, are urged to contact the office.

Unlike other types of CRP, the CRP Grasslands participants an still use the land for livestock production, such as grazing.  While following their conservation and grazing plans in order to maintain the cover.  The goal of CRP Grasslands is to minimize conservation of grasslands to either row crops or other non-ag uses. 

LOAN DEFICIENCY PAYMENTS

It is encouraged for producers who have 2016 Marketing Assistance Loans to be aware of the Posted County Price (PCP) and how it can benefit producers with MAL’s.  Producers with 2015 crop year MAL’s will work off the 2015 crop year rates; those can be found on the website; click on the PCP data on the LDP website.                                                                   

Marketing Assistance Loans (MAL) can be repaid at the Posted County Price which will result in a market gain.  Market gains are counted against the$125,000 payment limitation per producer for 2016.  If the MAL is redeemed for a commodity certificate; the market gain is not counted against the $125,000 payment limitation for 2016.

Example:  Wheat PCP for 10/31/2016 was $2.75 for 2016.  A producer with a MAL of 10,000 bushels chose to pay off the loan on 10/31/2016 would incur a market gain of $2,800.00 which is the difference between the $3.03 loan rate and $2.75 repayment rate x 10,000 bushels. 

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.