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.  No MCM activities on CRP acres
June 3 - August 23: CRP Continuous Signup 52 Begins 
June 14: COC Nominations Begin
June 17: Dairy Margin Coverage Program Sign-Up Begins
July 15: Last Day to Certify Crop Acres

Crop Reporting
Allamakee county farmers are reminded to report all spring planted crops to the FSA office by July 15 to remain eligible for FSA and other USDA programs. Please remember to bring planting dates with you. It is the producer’s responsibility to accurately report acres and producer’s shares in individual crops. Discrepancies found later may affect eligibility for all FSA-administered programs. Late-filed crop reports are assessed a farm visit fee.

June 2019 CCC and FSFL Interest Rates
New rates were issued for the month of June and are as follows:
• 2.250% for 3 years
• 2.250% for 5 years
• 2.375% for 7 years
• 2.500% for 10 years
• 2.500% for 12 years
• 2.625% for 15 years
• Crop year commodity loan rate: 3.375%

CRP Continuous Signup
For offers to re-enroll land or enroll new land, offers will be accepted from June 3 - August 23.  Eligible practices include grass waterways, filter strips, riparian buffers. Other options are available, but these are the most common for this area.  Soil rental rates are 90% of what was in effect on September 28, 2018 and capped at $300 an acre.

Signing incentive payments and practice incentive payments are not authorized for this signup.  Additionally, cost-share is not authorized for mid-contract management work, though that work is still required under the contract.  Cost-share is authorized for practice establishment, if applicable.

CRP contracts that expire in 2019, and do not have an option to re-enroll during this signup have the option for a one-year extension at their current rate.  Letters will be sent to eligible producers.

Dairy Margin Coverage
The 2018 Farm Bill authorized the new Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, which is a voluntary risk management program for dairy producers. DMC replaces the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy). DMC continues to offer protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.

To be eligible for DMC, a dairy operation must produce and commercially market milk and provide proof of milk production at the time of registration.

Dairy producers will select a coverage level ranging from $4 to $9.50 per cwt, in $0.50 increments and select a coverage percentage of the dairy operation’s production history ranging from 5 percent to 95 percent, in 5 percent increments.

FSA and the University of Wisconsin partnered on the development of a DMC decision support tool that helps producers determine the level of coverage under a variety of conditions that will provide them with the strongest financial safety net. It allows farmers to simplify their coverage level selection by combining operation data and other key variables to calculate coverage needs based on price projections.  Access the tool at https://dairymarkets.org/MPP.

Signup will begin June 17, providing retroactive coverage to January 1, 2019. 

County Committee (COC) Election
It’s that time of year when FSA begins the process of the county committee election. This year the election will be for LAA -1, which includes Waterloo, Union City, Hanover, French Creek, Union Prairie, and Makee townships. Essentially the NW portion of the county. The nomination period begins June 14 and runs through August 1.

You can nominate yourself or someone else by completing the appropriate form at our office or download it online. Once nominations are finalized, producers who reside in LAA-1 will cast ballots which will be mailed to you November 4. These ballots are due back to the FSA office by December 2. The elected member will take office January 1.

We’ll be getting more information out, posting flyers around town, and folks in these townships will be getting a postcard during the month of June.