What's Up At The FSA Office?

by Joyce Davidshofer, Allamakee county Executive Director

 

The next Allamakee County FSA Committee meeting will be announced at a later date.

 

Reminders  

December 19, 2014 – Extension deadline for Margin Protection Program - Dairy.

December 25 & 26, 2014 – Office Closed – Christmas.

January 19, 2015 – Office Closed – Martin Luther King Day.

January 29, 2015 – ISU/FSA meeting for landowners and operators on the ARC/PLC program at 1 p.m. at Farmers and  Merchants Savings Bank in Waukon. 

January 30, 2015 – Deadline for 2012 Livestock Feed Program (LFP) and 2012 Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP).

January 30, 2015 – Deadline for the “Early Out” on CRP (certain criteria must be met to qualify).

February 27, 2015 – Deadline for landowners to update yield history and/or reallocate base acres. 

March 31, 2015 – Producers make a one-time irrevocable election of ARC or PLC for the 2014 through 2018 crop years. 

After March 31, 2015 – Enrollment into 2014 and 2015 program.

Producers may contact the Allamakee County FSA office at 563-568-2148 for more information or make an appointment.

 

Extension of Margin

Protection Program

for Dairy Producers

The 2014 Farm Bill authorized the Margin Protection Program (MPP-Dairy) for dairy producers. The new, voluntary risk management program, which began September 2, 2014, replaced the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program which expired September 1, 2014.

MPP-Dairy offers protection to dairy producers when the difference (the margin) between the all-milk price and national average feed cost falls below a certain producer selected amount. 

Eligible producers may purchase coverage for their dairy operation by paying an annual administrative fee of $100 and a premium, as applicable, for higher levels of coverage. Producers in the dairy operation will have to select a desired coverage level ranging from $4.00 to $8.00, in $0.50 increments and a desired coverage percentage level ranging from 25 to 90 percent, in five percent increments. Producers will also have to decide whether or not to participate in the MPP-Dairy Program or the Livestock Gross Margin program administered by the Risk Management Agency (RMA), but they will not be allowed to participate in both. 

A MMP-Dairy decision tool by DMP (Dairy Markets and Policy) is available to help producers make coverage level decisions at http://www.dairymarkets.org/MPP/Tool. Dairy operators will establish their production history during sign-up which will end December 19, 2014. Verification of the production records will be required.

 

USDA Starts ARC/PLC Reallocation & Yield Update Process with a One-Time ARC/PLC Election 

USDA announced key dates for farm owners and producers to keep in mind regarding the new Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs enacted under the 2014 Farm Bill. 

Key dates associated with ARC/PLC program for farm owners and producers:

Sept. 29, 2014 to Feb. 27, 2015: Landowners update yield history and/or reallocate base acres. It is important if the landowner is not the operator of the farm that the landowner and operator work together to compile information on yields and/or reallocation of base acres. The operator of rented ground cannot sign the form for this update process.

Nov. 17, 2014 to March 31, 2015: Producers make a one-time irrevocable election of ARC or PLC for the 2014 through 2018 crop years. Election Process (in this process the operator makes the one-time irrevocable election). 

Mid-April 2015 through summer 2015: Producers enroll in 2014 and 2015 ARC or PLC contracts.

The update process allows landowners to update their Counter-Cyclical (CC) Yields for covered commodities on the farm. The formula for updating a yield is the simple average of a covered commodity’s yield on the farm during the years 2008 through 2012, for which the crop was planted, times 90 percent. Landowners or operators may certify the yields, however, the landowner makes the decision to update to a new yield or retain the CC yield on the farm. To prepare for the decision to update or retain the farm’s CC yield owners and operators should review and compile the farm’s yield by crop for the years 2008 through 2012 prior to visiting the local county office. Owners or producers may obtain a yield certification worksheet (CCC-859) from their local county office. The yield certification form is not required to be submitted, however the form may be used as a tool to compile the yields for a covered commodity on the farm.  Owners or producers that compile yields prior to visiting the local county office will find the update process to be faster and more efficient.

 The update process also allows landowners to reallocate base acres on the farm to the 2009 through 2012 covered commodity planting history on the farm. The total base acres on the farm cannot be increased from the total base acres on the farm as of September 30, 2013. The reallocation formula is the proration of the 2009 through 2012 average of planted and considered planted covered commodity acres to the total of the farm’s planted and considered planted acres of all covered commodities. Landowners will make the decision to reallocate or retain the base acres on the farm. 

The decision to “Elect” PLC, ARC-CO, or ARC-IC will be made by the current producers on the farm beginning November 17, 2014.  The deadline to make an election is March 31, 2015. Failure to elect a farm will result in the farm defaulting to PLC, and the 2014 payments will not be earned.  Landowners must complete the update process mentioned above (with a February 27 deadline) before an election may be made for the farm.  

Online tools are available to assist in the election decision process. The tools allow farm owners and operators to enter farm operation information to view ARC and PLC projections based on various future scenarios. The new tools are available at www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc. Farm owners and producers can access the online resources from the convenience of their home computer or mobile device at any time.

Remember to “Update” by February 27, 2015, “Elect” by March 31, 2015, and “Enroll” after March 31.

Producers may contact the Allamakee County FSA office at 563-568-2148 for more information or make an appointment.