What's up at the FSA Office?
by Cindy Mensen, Acting Allamakee County Executive Director (563) 568-2148
ATTENTION FARMERS - REMINDER:
December 15: County FSA Committee Meeting/Election 9 a.m.
December 15: Deadline for fall certification of forage and pasture areas
December 16: Deadline for 2017 MPP sign-up
County Committee Election
Ballots have been collected and the FSA Committee will tally them on Thursday, December 15. We want to convey our thanks to both Daryl Rud and Lyle Stock who agreed to be nominees for the position on our important farmer represented FSA committee.
Fall Certification
December 15 is the deadline to timely file your fall certification of hay, grass, forage and pasture fields on your farms. This is a report of any grass or hay crops that will be seeded over the winter and that you plan to use as forage or pasture in crop year 2017.
Margin Protection Program (MPP Dairy)
Another deadline for this week is for dairy producers who choose to participate in the MPP-Dairy program. December 16th is the final date to sign up for the 2017 coverage year. The MPP program began in 2014 and is scheduled to end with the Farm Bill in 2018. This program was designed to provide a safeguard against low milk prices and high feed costs, which are detrimental to profit margins for dairy operations. Producers pay a $100 service fee to participate and then make choices on the level of coverage the want for their operation. Premiums are charged for higher coverages.
Corn and Soybean Loans
FSA’s Price Support program allows farmers who produce commodities such as corn and soybeans to put them in storage on the farm or in a warehouse and then use the bushels as collateral for a grain loan. For example, if you have 5,000 bushels of corn, you may put these bushels under loan (“seal them”) for $1.87 per bushel in Allamakee County and receive funds totaling $9305.00. A $45 service fee is deducted for one storage location and increases by $3 for each additional bin or warehouse receipt. Interest rates for loans disbursed in December will be at 1.75%. The loan term is for nine full months. Farmers are responsible for the grain quality and are asked to repay the loan before feeding or selling the grain. The soybean loan rate is $4.99 per bushel in Allamakee Co. Ask at the FSA office for more details.
2017 ARC-Co Program Sign-up
Sign-up for the 2017 farm program, Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC-CO) has begun. Farmers who have a risk in what is planted on the farm are eligible to sign contracts for their commensurate share. These shares should match what you present to crop insurance agents when buying coverage for your 2017 crops.
