USDA Update - July 7, 2018

Eads USDA Service Center Staff

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

2018 SPRING ACREAGE REPORTING DEADLINE - July 15^th
PRIMARY NESTING SEASON - March 15^th- July 15 - NO CRP Contract Management ALLOWED
County Committee Nomination Deadline - August 1^st
Apply for Livestock Forage Program - Call office for appointment.
FARM LOAN Personnel in Kiowa County Service Center – Tuesday, July 10^th
FSA County Committee Meeting – TBA
2018 ARCPLC Enrollment deadline - August 1, 2018
Continuous CRP Grassland Signup 201 - Currently no deadline, apply any time.

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.

UPDATE ON EMERGENCY HAYING & GRAZING CRP

The FSA Office should receive notification later this week, if the county has been approved for Emergency Haying and Grazing. If approved, producers currently on the list at FSA will receive a phone call to begin their required paperwork @ NRCS and FSA.

If the county is approved, all the following are required -

livestock will NOT be allowed on the CRP until Monday, July 16^th
ALL the required paperwork and signatures have been received back in both the NRCS and FSA offices
Written approval has been given to graze.

Again, producers who are wishing to graze CRP and if the CRP participants are non-resident owners, you will need to obtain their signature(s) prior to grazing, therefore have their contact information ready.

2018 ACREAGE REPORTING

Monday, July 16^this the Acreage Reporting Deadline for spring seeded crops. Producers visiting the office need to have the plant dates and acres planted. Producers who are planting any crops after July 15^thhave 15 days after planting the crop to report those acres to the FSA office, without incurring a late-filed fee.

In order to maintain program eligibility and benefits, producers must timely file acreage reports. Failure to file an acreage report by the crop acreage reporting deadline may result in ineligibility for future program benefits. FSA will not accept acreage reports provided more than a year after the acreage reporting deadline.

Accepting Nominations for 2018 County Committee Elections

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) encourages all farmers, ranchers, and FSA program participants to take part in the Kiowa County Committee election nomination process.

FSA’s county committees are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA and allow grassroots input and local administration of federal farm programs.

Committees are comprised of locally elected agricultural producers responsible for the fair and equitable administration of FSA farm programs in their counties. Committee members are accountable to the Secretary of Agriculture. If elected, members become part of a local decision making and farm program delivery process.

A county committee is composed of three members from local administrative areas (LAA). Each member serves a three-year term. One-third of the seats on these committees are open for election each year. Eligible voters in LAA 2 in Kiowa County received a postcard recently announcing the nomination period.

All nomination forms for the 2018 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDA service center by Aug. 1, 2018. For more information on FSA county committee elections and appointments, refer to the FSA fact sheet: Eligibility to Vote and Hold Office as a COC Member available online at: www.fsa.usda.gov/elections.

DROUGHT MONITOR

It was status quo for counties in SE Colorado this past week, as there were no changes made on the Drought Monitor. The majority of Kiowa County remains in a D3 – extreme drought designation. More information is in the article found here.

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