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 2: Primary Nesting Season. No MCM Activities on CRP Acres
• July 15: 2018 Crop Reports
• August 1: ARC/PLC Sign-up
• August 17: CRP Signup 51
FSA County Committee Nominations Launch June 15
USDA encourages America’s farmers and ranchers to nominate candidates to lead, serve and represent their community on their local county committee. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will accept nominations for county committee members beginning Friday, June 15, 2018.
Producers across the country are already serving on committees where they play a critical role in the day-to-day operations of FSA, making important decisions on programs dealing with disaster and conservation, emergencies, commodity price loan support, county office employment and other agricultural issues.
Producers can nominate themselves or others. This year the election will occur in LAA3 which includes Iowa, Lansing, Center, LaFayette, Paint Creek, and Taylor townships. Organizations, including those representing beginning, women and minority producers, may also nominate candidates to better serve their communities. To be eligible to serve, producers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program and reside in the area where the election is being held.
To be considered, a producer must sign an FSA-669A nomination form. The form and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. All nomination forms for the 2018 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by August 1, 2018. Visit www.farmers.gov for more information.
Election ballots will be mailed to eligible voters beginning November 5, 2018.
CRP Signup
USDA recently announced a CRP signup that runs from June 4 - August 17. This sign-up will be for limited practices only to ensure the most sensitive land is protected, while staying under the 24-million-acre cap. These limited practices include, but are not limited to, filter strips, riparian buffers, and grass waterways. The full list of eligible practices is on the USDA website.
In addition to the new signup, a 1-year extension signup will run during these same dates. CRP participants with contracts set to expire on September 30, 2018 may choose to extend that date for a 1-year period at the same per acre payment rate. No new acres may be added to these extended contracts. A 1-year extension is NOT available for those contracts where this extension would cause the contract to exceed 15 years. Those eligible for an extension will receive a letter from USDA.
2018 Crop Certification
The Allamakee County FSA office welcomes all county farmers to come in and report their 2018 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.
USDA Farm Service Agency Offers Text Alerts to Allamakee County Producers
The USDA Farm Service Agency wants to inform farmers and ranchers they can sign up to receive notifications from their county office through text messages on their cell phone.
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 data plan. Participants may unsubscribe from the service at any time.
