IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• Farm Loan personnel in Eads Office – 2^nd Tuesday every month
• COC Meeting - August 14 – 9:00 a.m.
•  CRP Routine Haying & Grazing - 2^ndS eason begins July 16. 
•  Marketing Assistance Loans Available - $2.80 loan rate - wheat

2019 MFP - Call and schedule your appointment! Signup in Kiowa County begins – August 5, 2019.          

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. 

FSA IS HIRING!

FSA has a job opening for a Temporary Program Technician. Qualified applicants will need to submit form FSA-675 along with a current resume by Tuesday, August 13^.This appointment is scheduled to expire on 9/30/2019 – however likely to be extended, but not guaranteed. A full description of duties is available with the application at the office or upon request. Contact the FSA Office for further details - 719-438-5851, ext. 2.

2019 MFP 

The FSA Office is accepting appointments for the 2019 Marketing Facilitation Program; however, producers who reported failed acres on the FSA-578 form for 2018 and/or 2019 will not be able to schedule an appointment until the week of August 19^th. Currently, the software is not reflecting the failed acres as eligible for payment. The office is expecting a handbook later this week which will answer many questions. 

Applying for MFP - Producers will need to apply for the MFP program with their ‘recording county’. Recording county is applicable for multi-county producers only. 

The MFP payments will be available towards the end of August. Kiowa County producers will receive the $26.00 an acre payment in one payment since the county rate is below $30.00 an acre. 

Producers with hogs are eligible with the following requirements:

• Producers must certify the number of live hog animals they had an ownership in on a day selected between April 1, 2019 through May 15, 2019. 
• Hogs must be produced for commercial marketing, and not for personal use. 
• Custom or contract feeders who do not have an ownership interest in the hogs are ineligible for MFP. 

CRP CONTRACTS 

The FSA Office has received notification that active CRP contracts must be revised to match the acreage on the GIS map. Presently the CRP contract precision on acreage is at the tenth; while the GIS maps are at the hundredth; the contract must now reflect acreage to the hundredth. CRP contracts for nonresident owner and/or operators have been either emailed or sent by mail. It is important that when producers receive the contracts requiring signature; that they do not delay in signing and mailing back to the office. The FSA Office has an August 30 deadline for completion of this project so that payments can be issued in October. There are still a number of contracts that have not been returned, please check your email and USPS mail, complete the contracts are return them to the office.  

This revision to the contract does not affect the producer’s annual rental payment amount. Not all active contracts met the criteria to require a revision. Again, it’s important when producers receive the contracts either by mail or email - complete the paperwork ASAP. 

CRP HAYING AND GRAZING 

The required CRP primary nesting season will end on July 15; beginning on July 16 CRP routine grazing and managed haying will be available for producers. 

• GRAZING PERIOD
  Colorado’s grazing period is split into two 60 calendar days periods, the first period is the beginning of the fiscal year October 1^stthrough November 30 - the second grazing period is July 16 through September 14. 
• GRAZING FREQENCY
  Grazing can occur 1 out of every 3 years, after the cover if fully established and determined established by NRCS. Participants will be allowed to graze up to 100% of a contract based on 75% of the NRCS standard stocking rate in one specific FY, or producers may graze 75% the acres at 100% of the NRCS standard stocking rate.
  Producers who grazed CRP last year under CRP Emergency provisions the frequency clock resets based on the fiscal year the emergency haying or grazing occurred.
  Ex. If a producer grazed a CRP contract last year in July 2018 the contract will not be eligible for grazing until FY 2021. 
• HAYING PERIOD
  Colorado’s routine harvesting period currently is for a single period up to 120 calendar days not to extend past September 30^th. The harvesting period currently runs from July 16^ththru September 30^th. 
• HAYING FREQUENCY
  Managed harvesting can occur 1 out of every 5 years, after the cover is fully established. Producers are allowed to hay up to 50% of each field in one specific fiscal year. There is a requirement to leave at least 50% of the field unharvested for wildlife. 

Producers interesting in Haying CRP, should visit the office for more information. Producers interested in haying or grazing MUSTcomplete the required paperwork at the FSA and NRCS Office BEFOREany activity can occur on the CRP land. UNAUTHORIZED HAYING AND GRAZING IS PROHIBITED.