What's Up at the USDA Office?
Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
March 31: Deadline to request Marketing Assistance Loans (MAL) for prior year harvested wheat, barley, canola, crambe, flaxseed, honey, oats, rapeseed, and sesame.
March 31: 2025 Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Program Sign-up deadline
April 15: 2025 Agriculture Risk Coverage & Price Loss Coverage Program (ARC/PLC) Signup deadline
May 31: Deadline to request a Marketing Assistance Loan (MALs) for 2024 farm stored or warehouse stored grain
FSA Outlines MAL and LDP Policy
Marketing Assistance Loans (MALs) and Loan Deficiency Payments (LDPs) provide financing and marketing assistance for wheat, feed grains, soybeans, and other oilseeds, pulse crops, rice, peanuts, cotton, wool and honey. MALs provide you with interim financing after harvest to help you meet cash flow needs without having to sell your commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. A producer who is eligible to obtain a loan, but agrees to forgo the loan, may obtain an LDP if such a payment is available. Marketing loan provisions and LDPs are not available for sugar and extra-long staple cotton.
FSA is now accepting requests for 2024 MALs and LDPs for all eligible commodities after harvest. Requests for loans and LDPs shall be made on or before the final availability date for the respective commodities.
Commodity certificates are available to loan holders who have outstanding nonrecourse loans for wheat, upland cotton, rice, feed grains, pulse crops (dry peas, lentils, large and small chickpeas), peanuts, wool, soybeans and designated minor oilseeds. These certificates can be purchased at the posted county price (or adjusted world price or national posted price) for the quantity of commodity under loan, and must be immediately exchanged for the collateral, satisfying the loan. MALs redeemed with commodity certificates are not subject to Adjusted Gross Income provisions.
To be considered eligible for an LDP, you must have form CCC-633EZ, Page 1 on file at your local FSA Office before losing beneficial interest in the crop. Pages 2, 3 or 4 of the form must be submitted when payment is requested.
Marketing loan gains (MLGs) and loan deficiency payments (LDPs) are no longer subject to payment limitations, actively engaged in farming and cash-rent tenant rules.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) provisions state that if your total applicable three-year average AGI exceeds $900,000, then you’re not eligible to receive an MLG or LDP. You must have a valid CCC-941 on file to earn a market gain of LDP. The AGI does not apply to MALs redeemed with commodity certificate exchange.
For more information and additional eligibility requirements, contact your Allamakee County USDA Service Center at 563-568-2148 ext. 2 or visit fsa.usda.gov.
Applying for Farm Storage Facility Loans
The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) program provides low-interest financing to help you build or upgrade storage facilities and to purchase portable (new or used) structures, equipment and storage and handling trucks.
Eligible commodities include corn, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, oats, peanuts, wheat, barley, minor oilseeds harvested as whole grain, pulse crops (lentils, chickpeas and dry peas), hay, honey, renewable biomass, fruits, nuts and vegetables for cold storage facilities, floriculture, hops, maple sap, rye, milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, meat and poultry (unprocessed), eggs, and aquaculture (excluding systems that maintain live animals through uptake and discharge of water). Qualified facilities include grain bins, hay barns and cold storage facilities for eligible commodities.
Loans up to $50,000 can be secured by a promissory note/security agreement, loans between $50,000 and $100,000 may require additional security, and loans exceeding $100,000 require additional security.
You do not need to demonstrate the lack of commercial credit availability to apply. The loans are designed to assist a diverse range of farming operations, including small and mid-sized businesses, new farmers, operations supplying local food and farmers markets, non-traditional farm products, and underserved producers.
March 2025 Interest Rates
4.250% per annum for 3-year term
4.375% per annum for 5-year term
4.500% per annum for 7-year term
4.500% per annum for 10-year term
4.625% per annum for 12-year term
Used equipment qualifies only for a term of 3 or 5 years regardless of loan amount.
New equipment $100,000 or less can have a 3, 5, or 7-year term
New equipment from $100,001 to $250,000 can have a 3,5,7, or 10-year term
New equipment from $250,001 to $500,000 can have a 3,5,7,10 or 12-year term
2025 ARC/PLC Program Sign-Up
The 2025 Agricultural Risk Coverage & Price Loss Coverage Program (ARC/PLC) signup began January 21, 2025. Our office has worked diligently to mass mail out all 2025 contracts to be signed and returned. We are requesting these be returned by March 31, 2025.
The mailed contracts were run with the same elections and shares as signed up in fiscal year 2024. If nothing has changed and everything is correct as is, please sign, date, and return them to our office.
If you would like to change your election(s) (ARC-CO, PLC, or ARC-IC) on any of the Base Acre commodities (Corn, Soybeans, etc.) on the farm(s) you operate, please contact us right away regarding changing elections. Changing elections is optional, however if changed, all producers with a share of cropland will be required to sign to agree to the election change. Failure to obtain all signatures would result in all producers on the contract not being eligible to receive potential payments for the applicable program year.
Even if you choose to keep your election and shares the same as prior year(s), each shareholder needs to sign the contract for it to be considered enrolled.
ARC provides income support payments on historical base acres when crop revenue declines below a specified guaranteed level.
PLC provides income support payments on historical base acres when the effective price for a covered commodity falls below its reference price of $4.26 for Corn, $9.66 for Soybeans, and $2.76 for Oats.
Risk Management Agency (RMA) policies state if a producer has elected ARC-CO, they are not eligible for Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) for that commodity on that farm. We advise you to consult with your insurance agent to ensure all coverage options are in line with your signup choice.
Failure to do so could result in FSA ARC/PLC contracts being cancelled and ineligibility for potential payments.
In addition to the 2025 ARC/PLC contract, if not already on file, an Average Adjusted Gross Income Certification form (CCC-941) was included to be completed and returned.
All documents can be returned to the office via mail, email, or in-person. We do offer electronic signature if that is more convenient for you to sign your documents.
Return documents via mail on in-person:
Allamakee County FSA
770 11th Ave SW
Waukon, IA 52172
Return documents via email:
iawaukon-fsa@usda.gov
If you have any questions regarding the ARCPLC program, want to check your signup status, or would like to change elections, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 563-568-2148, ext. 2. If you are a multi-county producer, we can sign up those farms at the office as well. We accept all walk-ins or can schedule you an appointment to sign in office, email/mail you the contracts to sign, or offer digital e-signing.
