What's Up at the FSA Office?
by Jeremy Leitz, Allamakee County Executive Director (563) 568- 2148
Upcoming Deadlines and Important Dates
• October 8: Office closed in observance of Columbus Day
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Payments
We will soon be issuing payments for the Conservation Reserve Program. CRP payments begin with those contracted prior to 2008. Barring no computer delays, those payments will begin being issued October 2. For CRP contracts that began after the 2008 Farm Bill, payments will be issued starting October 11.
Remember that these take a few days to be deposited into your account.
CRP Mid-Contract Management
Some CRP contract holders will receive a packet of information detailing the activities that need to be completed in FY18. You can begin those activities as early as October 1, 2018. However, all activities need to be completed by May 14, 2019 unless otherwise indicated on your forms. Stop in or call if you have any questions.
ACR/PLC Payments
If Allamakee receives ARC or PLC payments this year, those will also begin processing in early October. However, at this time we do not know if Allamakee will receive payments for beans or corn, and won’t know for sure until early October.
Market Facilitation Program (MFP)
The MFP signup period will run through January 15, 2019, and you are encouraged to apply after harvest is 100% complete. We recommend you bring production evidence with you when you apply. Payments will be issued on 50% of the production multiplied by the MFP rate for the specific commodity. A second payment period, if warranted, will be determined by the USDA later this calendar year.
Payment rates:
• Corn: $0.01 a bushel
• Soybeans: $1.65 a bushel
• Dairy: $0.12 cwt
• Hogs: $8 a head
Payments have been issued for some dairy producers as their production evidence has come from the MPP program. Hog payments were previously based on inventory as of August 1, 2018. However, a recent change expanded that time to include inventory between July 15, 2018 and August 15, 2018. Producers may select any date between that range as the date for which ownership is reported. If you are a hog producer who has already completed their application for a hog payment using your August 1 inventory, you can stop back in and revise that figure if it was not indicative of the usual number of hogs in your operation.
So if you have hogs or a dairy operation and not signed your application, stop in soon to do so.
Visit Farmers.gov for more information on the Market Facilitation Program.
