Coffee Shop Talk- With Daviess County FSA

Upon the transition of PT Lauren Schad taking a new position within FSA, Kara Dennert was hired as a full-time, permanent PT to serve in Daviess County. Stop by and meet the her at your next opportunity! In the meantime, below are a few words from Kara:

Hello! My name is Kara Dennert and I live in Jamesport, Missouri, with my husband, Tim, and our two boys, James and Jason. I grew up in rural, western Harrison County where I learned the major impact and importance of agriculture in our society. My farming background has instilled within me a huge passion for agriculture; and with passion comes a strong desire to help those in the agriculture field succeed. As a member of the Farm Service Agency, I hope to accomplish that! I am so excited to be a member of the Agency here in Gallatin. I am looking forward to serving our rural community to the best of my ability. I can’t wait to meet all the producers in the area and get to know each and every one of you!

As farmers are continuing to suffer from damages because of unjustified trade retaliation from foreign nations, it was recently announced that the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) has been re-authorized for 2019. The sign up for 2019 MFP is now underway at FSA offices and will continue through December 6^th.

For 2019, MFP payments will be made to producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, alfalfa, millet, oats, rye, triticale, and several other crops that are not typically grown in this area. However, the 2019 program works differently than it did last year. For 2019, MFP assistance is based on a single county payment rate multiplied by a producer’s total planted acres. A producer’s total eligible acres can’t be more than their total 2018 planted and prevented planting acres, but there are a few exceptions for land that was added to the operation or changes in shares from the previous year. The 2019 payment rate for Daviess County is $63 per acre, and the surrounding counties are all within a few dollars of that amount.

Payments for 2019 MFP will be made up to three times. The first payment is guaranteed and will be made starting later this month. It will represent 50% of each producer’s total calculated 2019 MFP payment. Then, if trade conditions warrant, the second payment will be made in November, and third payment will be made in early January. The second and third payments will each represent 25% of each producer’s total calculated 2019 MFP payment. MFP payments are limited to a combined $250,000 for non-specialty crops.

For the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) farm program, we will soon know the 2018 Marketing Year Average Price for corn and soybeans, which will determine if and how much the payment rates will be for both programs.

Let’s keep it clean! Do you have a CRP contract that will be expiring in the next year or two? For those of you that do, please be proactive to ensure those areas are free of trees, gullies, and noxious weeds. When a contract is set to expire and the contract holder request to re-offer the acreage, a field visit will be made (prior to approval) to ensure the acreage is capable of being farmed in a normal workmanship like manner. If the area to be enrolled is not capable of being farmed, that area will not be eligible for CRP, unless certain practice provisions apply to an already existing/expiring tree practice. Also note, boundaries may be reduced if trees or brushy cover has grown up in the fence lines or along other existing boundaries. There will be minimal exceptions at the time the offer is made. If you have been through a CRP signup before, time is limited to get contracts re-enrolled & to accept new offers so please be proactive while managing your existing contracts.

Dates to remember:

• October 1-November 30 – spray cool season CRP acres if needed for required maintenance
• September 30th- Haying or Grazing CRP acres- haying must be complete and livestock removed
• October 14th- Columbus Day Holiday. USDA Service Center is closed.
• October 30th- Bales must be removed from CRP managed haying acres.
• December 6th- Market Facilitation Program (MFP) deadline.
• December 15- Deadline to report fall seeded crops such as wheat, rye, triticale

That’s all folks! Thanks for reading this month’s issue of Coffee Shop Talk! We wish everyone a safe harvest and successful fall calving season.

Mandi Bird

County Executive Director