What's up at the FSA Office?

by Joyce Davidshofer, Allamakee County Executive Director

The Allamakee County Committee meeting will be Thursday, February 12 at 9 a.m. at the Allamakee County FSA Office.

The Allamakee County FSA office will be holding meetings on the new ARC/PLC farm programs at the FSA office on the following dates:
February 3 at 1 p.m.
February 5 at 1 p.m.
February 10 at 10 a.m.
February 12 at 1 p.m.
Limited space is available. Call the office at 563-568-2148 to reserve a spot for the dates above.
ARC/PLC Program
The yield updates and/or base reallocations have a deadline of February 27, 2015. After this date the current base and yield on the farm will kept.
The PLC, ARC-County and the ARC-Individual elections have to be selected by March 31, 2015. After this deadline the farm will default to the PLC program for 2015-2018 and 2014 will not be paid if it triggers a payment.
If the PLC program is selected by the March 31, 2015 deadline, and if the 2014 payment triggers, then the farm will be paid for 2014 year. For more information call 563-568-2148.

USDA Reminds Farmers of 2014 Farm Bill Conservation Compliance Changes
The 2014 Farm Bill implements a change that requires farmers to have a Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation Certification (AD-1026) on file.
For farmers to be eligible for premium support on their federal crop insurance, a completed and signed AD-1026 certification form must be on file with the FSA. The Risk Management Agency (RMA), through the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), manages the federal crop insurance program that provides the modern farm safety net for American farmers and ranchers.
Since enactment of the 1985 Farm Bill, eligibility for most commodity, disaster and conservation programs has been linked to compliance with the highly erodible land conservation and wetland conservation provisions.
The 2014 Farm Bill continues the requirement that producers adhere to conservation compliance guidelines to be eligible for most programs administered by FSA and NRCS. This includes most financial assistance such as the new price and revenue protection programs, the Conservation Reserve Program, the Livestock Disaster Assistance programs and Marketing Assistance Loans and most programs implemented by FSA. It also includes the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program and other conservation programs implemented by NRCS.
Many FSA and Natural Resource Conservation (NRCS) programs already have implemented this requirement and therefore most producers should already have an AD-1026 from on file for their associated lands. If however an AD-1026 form has not been filed or is incomplete then farmers are reminded of the deadline of June 1, 2015.
When a farmer completes and submits the AD-1026 certification form, FSA and NRCS staff will review the associated farm records and outline any additional actions that may be required to meet the required compliance with the conservation compliance provisions.
FSA recently released a revised form AD-1026, which is available at USDA Service Centers and online at www.fsa.usda.gov. USDA will publish a rule later this year that will provide details outlining the connection of conservation compliance with crop insurance premium support. Producers can also contact their local USDA Service Center for information. A listing of service center locations is available at www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/contact/loc.