What's up at the FSA Office?

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

Upcoming Deadlines and Important Dates
• February 19: Office closed in observance ofGeorge Washington’s Birthday

USDA Looking to Lease Office Space
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency in Waukon, Iowa, is interested in leasing approximately 5315 rentable square feet of office and related space together with approximately 40 onsite, paved parking spaces.  The rentable space shall yield a minimum of 4621 to a maximum of 4855 contiguous ANSI/BOMA office area square feet of first class, high quality office space.  The space must be ready for occupancy within nine months after the lease award.

The area to be considered must be within an area bound on the north by Mt. Olivet Road and A44; on the east by 4 Corners Road; on the south by Hwy 9, Hwy 76, and Dundee Road; and on the west by Bluebird Road north to Mount Olivet Road.
Expressions of Interest should include the following:
1. Building Name and Address, and location of space within the building
2. Rentable Square Feet offered and full-service rental rate per square foot
3. ANSI/BOMA Usable Square Feet and Common Area Factor
4. Amount of on-site paved parking available
5. Contact information for Owner or Authorized Agent

Written notice of space availability must be received by February 16, 2018, and sent to:

Audrey Rivas
Realty Specialist
10500 Buena Vista Court
Des Moines, Iowa 50322
Phone: (515) 331-8426
Email: Audrey.rivas@ia.usda.gov

Reconstitutions
A friendly reminder to all producers who experience ownership or operating changes, purchasing or acquiring new land, or establishing a trust or legal entity are asked to notify the FSA office as soon as possible after the change has occurred.  The sooner this information is shared with the FSA office, the sooner the office can process and update the changes and prevent issues that may arise late in the year.

Beginning Farmers
The Farm Service Agency offers a wide array of loans to producers, and one of those loans targets beginning farmers. FSA makes and guarantees loans to beginning farmers who are unable to obtain financing from commercial lenders. To qualify as a beginning farmer, and individual or entity has not operated a farm for more than 10 years, meets the loan eligibility requirements of the program, substantially participates in the operation, and for farm ownership loan purposes, does not own a farm greater than the 30% median farm size in the county.

USDA Announces Enrollment Period for Safety Net Coverage in 2018
FSA today announced that starting Nov. 1, 2017, farmers and ranchers with base acres in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) safety net program may enroll for the 2018 crop year. The enrollment period will end Aug. 1, 2018. Since shares and ownership of a farm can change year-to-year, producers must enroll by signing a contract each program year.

The producers on a farm that are not enrolled for the 2018 enrollment period will not be eligible for financial assistance from the ARC or PLC programs for the 2018 crop should crop prices or farm revenues fall below the historical price or revenue benchmarks established by the program. Producers who made their elections in previous years must still enroll during the 2018 enrollment period.

USDA Farm Service Agency Offers Text Alerts to Allamakee County Producers
Producers can text IAAllamakee to FSANOW (372-669) to subscribe to text message alerts from Allamakee County. Standard text messaging rates apply. Contact your wireless carrier for details associated with your particular data plan. Participants may unsubscribe at any time.