What's Up at the FSA Office?

by Jeremy Leitz, Allamakee County Executive Director (563) 568-2148

Upcoming Deadlines and Important Dates
May 14: Deadline to complete mid-contract management (MCM) activities on CRP
May 15 - August 1: Primary Nesting Season.  No MCM activities on CRP acres.

April 2019 CCC and FSFL Interest Rates
New rates were issued for the month of February and are as follows:
• 2.500% for 3 years
• 2.500% for 5 years
• 2.500% for 7 years
• 2.625% for 10 years
• 2.750% for 12 years
• 2.750% for 15 years
Crop year commodity loan rate for April is 3.500%

CRP Reminders
The primary nesting season runs from May 15 - August 1. Contact the FSA office if you need to perform spot maintenance activities on your CRP acres during this time. Cosmetic mowing of your CRP acres is prohibited, but you can spot treat areas that are threatened by undesirable vegetation throughout the year. A written request must be made before the County Committee grants approval to conduct maintenance during the nesting season. As a reminder, volunteer trees and woody vegetation must be controlled and removed from CRP acres. Failure to control undesirable vegetation on CRP can result in financial penalties.

Program Signups
Dairy - no official date set, but we anticipate signup for the Dairy Margin Coverage program will begin in June. 
CRP - Possible general CRP signup in December.  No official date provided yet.  No word on a Continuous CRP signup. 
ARC/PLC - No official date set, but preliminary dates are in September or October. 

Power of Attorney
For those who find it difficult to visit the county office personally because of work schedules, distance, health, etc., FSA has a power of attorney form available that enables you to designate another person to conduct your business at the office. If you are interested, contact our office or any Farm Service Agency office near you for more information. Power of Attorney provisions do not apply to farm loan programs. 

Changing Bank Accounts
All FSA payments should be electronically transferred into your bank account. To make timely payments, you need to notify the office if you close your account or if your bank is purchased by another financial institution. Payments can be delayed if we are not aware of changes to account and routing numbers.

Other Programmatic Items
• Always call or stop in before moving any grain under loan with FSA.
• Complete MCM on your CRP acres by May 14, if you are scheduled for this year.
• Make sure you are following your NRCS conservation plan on your acres. 
• Contact our office if you plan on breaking new ground this year.
• Let us know if you will have a new operator or tenant on your acres this year.
• Sign up for text alerts from our office by texting IAAllamakee to 372669.