What's up at the FSA Office?

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

Upcoming Deadlines and Important Dates
• May 15 – August 1: Primary Nesting Season
• July 15 – 2017 Crop Reports (FSA 578)   
• July 1 – Sept. 30: Sign up for the 2018 MPP Dairy Program
• August 1 - ARC/PLC Sign-up

Crop Reporting
The Allamakee County FSA office welcomes all county farmers to come in and report their 2017 crops.  Certifying your crops is a requirement for many FSA programs.  This includes all spring planted crops and land uses.  Forages and pastures were to be reported last fall, and if you missed that deadline, we will be asking for that report now and collecting a late fee.  100% of the farm must be reported to be eligible for programs.  Please report what is planted on your farm by the deadline of July 15.
While you’re in the office, be sure to sign up for the 2017 Agricultural Risk Program as well.  This program began in 2014 and runs through 2018.  Every year you need to come in, tell us who is operating the land, and sign form CCC-861 so that the correct producers may be paid any earned program benefits.  The deadline to sign up is August 1. 

Upcoming County Office Committee Election in LAA-2
The COC nomination period will start June 15 and producers can nominate themselves or others.  If you would like to run, or are nominated and agree to run, you will need to complete form FSA-669A, which you can pick up at our office or online at fsa.usda.gov/elections.  All nominations must be postmarked or received in our office by August 1.
Election ballots are then mailed to eligible voters in the electing LAA beginning November 6 and are due back no later than December 4.  All newly elected members take office January 1, and serve for three years, with a maximum of three terms.  So if you reside in LAA-2, and would like to run, stop in after June 15 to pick up the nomination form and return it to us by August 1.

Breaking New Ground
Agricultural producers are reminded to consult with FSA and NRCS before breaking out new ground for production purposes as doing so without prior authorization may put a producer’s federal farm program benefits in jeopardy. This is especially true for land that must meet Highly Erodible Land (HEL) and Wetland Conservation (WC) provisions.
Producers with HEL determined soils are required to apply tillage, crop residue and rotational requirements as specified in their conservation plan.
Producers should notify FSA as a first point of contact prior to conducting land clearing or drainage type projects to ensure the proposed actions meet compliance criteria such as clearing any trees to create new cropland, then these areas will need to be reviewed to ensure such work will not risk your eligibility for benefits.
Landowners and operators complete the form AD-1026 - Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification to identify the proposed action and allow FSA to determine whether a referral to Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for further review is necessary.  

Update Your Records
FSA is cleaning up our producer record database. If you have any unreported changes of address or zip code or an incorrect name or business name on file they need to be reported to our office. Changes in your farm operation, like the addition of a farm by lease or purchase, need to be reported to our office as well. Producers participating in FSA and NRCS programs are required to timely report changes in their farming operation to the County Committee in writing and update their CCC-902 Farm Operating Plan.
If you have any updates or corrections, call your local FSA office to update your records.