What's up at the FSA Office?

by Joyce Davidshofer, Allamakee County Executive Director

Meeting
The next Allamakee County Committee meeting will be December 10 at 9 a.m. at the Allamakee County FSA conference room.

Reminders
December 15: Deadline to certify hay/grass acres.
December 25: Closed, Christmas Day.
January 1, 2016: Closed, New Years Day.
October 1 through December 15: Forage (alfalfa), pasture, grass, and fall seed crops certification are required to be certified by December 15 for spring 2016 crop year. Late file fee will apply and no waivers will be granted. The late file fee will be $46 per farm.

New General CRP Signup
The next general CRP signup will be held from December 1, 2015, through February 26, 2016. Land that is not currently enrolled in CRP may be offered for enrollment during CRP signup 49. In addition, CRP participants with contracts expiring on September 30, 2016, may submit offers. Accepted contracts for CRP signup 49 will become effective on October 1, 2016. For more details contact the Allamakee County FSA Office at (563)568-2148.

CRP Expiring 9/30/2016 Letters
The National FSA Office mailed letters to CRP participants October 27, 2015. If the expiring contract is a continuous CRP contract, you may apply by April 1, 2016 to have a start date of 10/1/2016. For the General CRP contracts expiring on 10/1/2016, can accept offers starting with the December 1, 2015 CRP Signup.
If you have questions in regard to your CRP expiring letter, please stop in the office or contact us at (563) 568-2148.

Nonrecourse Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL) and Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP) Programs
MALs provide producers interim financing at harvest time to help them meet cash flow needs when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. MALs for covered commodities are nonrecourse because the commodity is pledged as loan collateral and producers have the option of delivering the pledged collateral to the CCC as full payment for the loan at maturity. A producer who is eligible to obtain a loan, but who agrees to forgo the loan, may obtain an LDP. An LDP is the amount by which the applicable loan rate exceeds the alternative loan repayment rate for the respective commodity.
Allamakee County Loan Rates are as follows:
Corn - $1.87 per bushel
Oats - $1.43 per bushel
Soybeans - $4.99 per bushel
Barley - $1.70 per bushel

FSA is now accepting applications for all eligible commodities. For expedited service, interested producers are encouraged to schedule an appointment. Other program restrictions may apply, including limits on total payments or gross income thresholds. Consult with the Allamakee FSA office for further details. For more information, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport.

Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loans
Each fiscal year, FSA targets a portion of its direct and guaranteed farm ownership and operating loan funds to beginning farmers and ranchers. FSA makes and guarantees loans to beginning farmers and ranchers who are unable to obtain financing from commercial lenders. A beginning farmer or rancher is an individual or entity who (1) has not operated a farm or ranch for more than 10 years, (2) meets the loan eligibility requirements of the program to which he/she is applying, (3) substantially participates in the operation, and, (4) for farm ownership loan purposes, does not own a farm greater than 30 percent of the median size farm in the county and meet training and experience requirements. For more information, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/farmloans.