IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• CRP Contract Management - Contact FSA or NRCS with questions.  Producers have been notified of required completion dates.   
• FARM LOAN Personnel in Kiowa County Service Center – Tuesday, April 10^th
• RMA & NAP APPLICATION FOR COVERAGE DEADLINE -  March 15^th for spring crops
• County Committee Meeting – Wednesday, March 21^st
• FINAL DATE FOR 2017 WHEAT MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOAN REQUEST -  March 31^st 
• CRP Continuous Signup - CRP Grassland OFFERS ONLY.  Producers interested are urged to contact FSA Office.  NOW!! - File form CCC-633 EZ page 1 with FSA before losing beneficial interest to maintain Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP) eligibility.  (To request payments, producers need to submit page 2 of the CCC-633EZ)
• 2018 ARCPLC Enrollment deadline -  August 1, 2018

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.

WIND

It was sure good to see the wind subside last week.  The area doesn’t need any more windy days; however being the first part of March would imagine we will have more wind.  At the Sand Creek Massacre site there is a CoAgMet Station which measures wind gusts the highs so far for the month of March are as follows:

Sunday – March 4^th - 35 MPH gust

Monday – 5^th – 32 MPH gust

Tuesday – 6^th – 35 MPH gust

CRP PRIMARY NESTING SEASON

Thursday, March 15^th begins the annual CRP Primary Nesting Season (PNS) for the wildlife.  The end of the PNS is July 15^th, for the next four months there can be no activity, including contract management on established permanent grass stands.  This is the time of year, producers need to have their fences in working order, as it is the CRP producer’s responsibility to fence the cattle out of the CRP.  Violations during the PNS can result in County Committee determination of non-compliance; which normally means money will be involved.  Producers may face a standard payment reduction or termination of the contract with refunds required.   

U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR

BIG changes this week on the Drought Monitor.  To the left is the BIG picture which includes the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and parts of Oklahoma.  This map shows in red where the D3 – extreme drought designations are and there is actually D4 –exceptional (dark red) drought designation on the Oklahoma, Kansas border.  Kiowa County moved into a D2 – severe drought designation.  The majority of counties in SE Colorado are designated D2 category.  There is now a slight portion of Baca County with a D3 designation.   I wanted to show the readers that it is dry south of Kiowa County and those areas are suffering from drought conditions.  We could sure use some moisture. For more information about this week's changes in drought conditions, see this article.

LIVESTOCK RECORDS

Kiowa County isn’t currently eligible for any Livestock Assistance Programs; however with the dry conditions and the long range forecast not looking favorable for moisture; it is possible that during the growing season the county could trigger for (LFP) Livestock Forage Program.  I want to urge ranchers to get their paperwork together on their livestock herds.  If the county does become eligible for LFP, the application process will require producers to have documentation for the head of cattle or any type of eligible livestock currently on hand; any that were sold due to drought conditions and receipts for any cattle purchases.  Tax returns are also a good source.  There is no time like the present to get that information together before some of you get busy with farming activities. 

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

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.  Friday, by appointment only.

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.