What's up at the FSA Office?

Meeting
The next Allamakee County Committee meeting will be January 14, 2016 at 9 a.m. at the Allamakee County FSA Office conference room.

Reminders
December 1 through February 26, 2016: New CRP Signup
January 18, 2016: Closed, Martin Luther King Day.

New General CRP Signup
December 1, 2015, through February 26, 2016 is the new general CRP signup. 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 at this time. 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.
In January, 2016 a public meeting will be held for producers who are interested in the CRP programs. The date, time and place will be announced at a later date.

CRP Meetings being held in January
This meeting will provide information on the new CRP Signup 49 and Continuous CRP program. The two meetings - Wednesday, January 13, and Thursday, January 21 - will be held at Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank at 1 p.m. each day.
Please contact the Allamakee County FSA Office at (563) 568-2148 to let the office know you will be attending. This is only to make sure the county office has enough information packets to hand out.

2016 ARCPLC Enrollment Underway
There are no major changes with the ARCPLC enrollment process from the 2014 and 2015 to the 2016 program year.
Base Acres and PLC Yields shall be restored for the 2016 program year for 9/30/2015 expiring CRP BEFORE completing an enrollment contract on the farm.
2016 Enrollment deadline is August 1, 2016 for program year 2016
2016 County Yields will not be determined until after September of 2017.
2016 Marketing Year Average Prices (MYA) for Corn and Soybeans is determined in September of 2017, and payments issued, if earned, in October of 2017.

If there are any questions in regards to the 2016 ARCPLC program contact the Allamakee County FSA Office 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

Maintaining the Quality of Farm-Stored Loan Grain
Bins are ideally designed to hold a level volume of grain. When bins are overfilled and grain is heaped up, airflow is hindered and the chance of spoilage increases.
Producers who take out marketing assistance loans and use the farm-stored grain as collateral should remember that they are responsible for maintaining the quality of the grain through the term of the loan.