What's Up at the USDA Office?
Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
May 15 – August 1: Primary Nesting Season – No MCM work on CRP acres
May 26 – August 28: Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) Signup
June 30: 2020 ARCPLC Election
July 15: Crop Certification
September 30: PLC Yield Update
Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)
www.farmers.gov/cfap
Between May 26 and August 28, FSA will be accepting applications from agricultural producers who have suffered losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Additional information and application forms can be found at www.farmers.gov/cfap. Documentation to support the producer’s application and certification may be requested.
CFAP provides vital financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who have suffered a five percent-or-greater price decline due to COVID-19 and face additional significant marketing costs as a result of lower demand, surplus production, and disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly marketing of commodities.
A full list of eligible commodities and payment rates can be found on www.farmers.gov/cfap.
Sign Up for 2020 ARCPLC Program by June 30!
We mailed out the remaining ARCPLC contracts earlier this spring for farms that still need to be enrolled for the 2020 program year. A postcard reminder was mailed to those folks that we were still waiting for theirs to come back. So, if you received a postcard, review the previous letter and contract to ensure everything is completed correctly. If you have any questions, or need the contract modified, call our office. The deadline to get these approved is June 30, so don’t delay in getting these back to us.
CRP Reminders
The primary nesting season runs from May 15 – August 1. Contact the FSA office if you need to perform spot maintenance activities on your CRP acres during this time. Cosmetic mowing of your CRP acres is always prohibited, but you can spot treat areas that are threatened by undesirable vegetation throughout the year. A written request must be made before the County Committee grants approval to conduct maintenance during the nesting season.
As a reminder, volunteer trees and woody vegetation must be controlled and removed from CRP acres. Failure to control undesirable vegetation on CRP can result in financial penalties.
2020 Crop Certification
Unfortunately, we are still not able to certify crops face-to-face at the office. Our office has mailed out farm maps to the operator for them to mark the crops planted, date planted, and shares. If there is more than one operator on the farm, we would ask the operators who receive the maps to visit with other tenants on that farm to make sure all fields are accurately labeled, and all relevant information included (shares, planting dates, etc.). Then return them to us via mail, email or the drop-box outside the office. We will then load them and get your FSA-578 form ready for you to review and sign.
We ask that you get them marked-up and returned to us as soon as possible, but no later June 8. We’ll need time to review, address any questions with you, and get the information loaded.
Update Your Records
FSA is cleaning up our producer record database. If you have any unreported changes of address, zip code, phone number, email address or an incorrect name or business name on file they need to be reported to our office. Changes in your farm operation, like the addition of a farm by lease or purchase, need to be reported to our office as well. Producers participating in FSA and NRCS programs are required to timely report changes in their farming operation to the County Committee in writing and update their CCC-902 Farm Operating Plan.
As we have been doing more through mail and over the phone, now is a great time to ensure we have your updated contact information (address, phone, email). If you have any updates or corrections, please call us.
