What's up at the FSA Office?

by Joyce Davidshofer, Allamakee County Executive Director

The Allamakee County Committee meeting will be held Thursday, March 26 in the Allamakee County FSA Office conference room at 9 a.m.

Reminders
March 31 – Deadline for ARC/PLC program elections – ARC-CO, ARC-IC or PLC.  Contact the Allamakee County FSA Office if you have any questions on this deadline.
Postcards will be sent to owners/operators who have not made an election for  ARC- CO, ARDC-IC or PLC. These cards should have arrived by March 16. Please do not disregard this postcard. Give the Allamakee County FSA Office a call if you have any questions.
 
Schedule Appointments
With the large workload with the new ARC/PLC program, the Allamakee County FSA Office is requesting that producers call for an appointment. When making an appointment let the employee know if you will be farming the same farms as last year or if there is an addition or loss of a farm.
The Allamakee County FSA Office will continue to have meetings for producers in the FSA office conference room on the 2014 PLC/ARC program elections. The following dates are scheduled:
Thursday, March 17 at 1 p.m.
Call to reserve a spot since seating is limited. 563-568-2148.

Update Records
The Allamakee County FSA office would like to remind sellers and buyers of land to contact the office when the recorded deed has been filed.
NOTE: If all or part of the land has a CRP contact active there will need to be a succession to the CRP contract. If the buyer does not want to succeed to the CRP contract, the seller will need to refund all payments received, plus interest. Inquire at the FSA Office on the policies of buying/selling CRP land.

USDA Reminds Farmers of 2014 Farm Bill Conservation Compliance Changes
The 2014 Farm Bill implements a change that requires farmers to have a Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation Certification (AD-1026) on file.
For farmers to be eligible for premium support on their federal crop insurance, a completed and signed AD-1026 certification form must be on file with the FSA. The Risk Management Agency (RMA), through the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), manages the federal crop insurance program that provides the modern farm safety net for American farmers and ranchers.
Since enactment of the 1985 Farm Bill, eligibility for most commodity, disaster and conservation programs has been linked to compliance with the highly erodible land conservation and wetland conservation provisions.
The 2014 Farm Bill continues the requirement that producers adhere to conservation compliance guidelines to be eligible for most programs administered by FSA and NRCS. This includes most financial assistance such as the new price and revenue protection programs, the Conservation Reserve Program, the Livestock Disaster Assistance programs and Marketing Assistance Loans and most programs implemented by FSA. It also includes the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program and other conservation programs implemented by NRCS.
Many FSA and Natural Resource Conservation (NRCS) programs already have implemented this requirement and therefore most producers should already have an AD-1026 from on file for their associated lands. If however an AD-1026 form has not been filed or is incomplete then farmers are reminded of the deadline of June 1, 2015.
When a farmer completes and submits the AD-1026 certification form, FSA and NRCS staff will review the associated farm records and outline any additional actions that may be required to meet the required compliance with the conservation compliance provisions.
FSA recently released a revised form AD-1026, which is available at USDA Service Centers and online at: www.fsa.usda.gov. USDA will publish a rule later this year that will provide details outlining the connection of conservation compliance with crop insurance premium support. Producers can also contact their local USDA Service Center for information. A listing of service center locations is available at www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/contact/loc.