Coffee Shop Talk with Daviess County FSA

Hi folks! Thanks for reading the February edition of Coffee Shop Talk with Daviess County FSA. There are several program applications and enrollments going on right now as well as some upcoming deadlines. Please take a moment to read through the bulletin to ensure you are up to date on your farm’s program participation.
During the month of January, here at the office we measured 2.24 inches of melted precipitation compared to an average of 1.22. So far for the calendar year, we are 4 degrees above average. Reminder, livestock deaths due to adverse weather events such as lightning and extreme cold must be reported within 30 calendar days of the loss. I know many producers start calving this month. We wish them all a successful spring calving season!
On Feb. 3, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced that the third tranche of 2019 Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments were approved. MFP is aimed at assisting farmers that are suffering from damage due to unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. The third and final tranche will pay the remainder of each eligible producer’s total calculated 2019 MFP payment. Payments for Daviess County were processed last week and should be in most producer’s bank accounts in 3-5 business days.
Two important FSA deadlines are occurring in the next few weeks – the deadline for FSA’s General CRP Signup is Feb. 28, while the deadline for 2019 ARCPLC is March 15.
Daviess County producers who are interested in making an offer to enroll land into CRP should call our office at 660-663-3703, extension 2 to schedule an appointment to make their CRP offer.
For producers enrolling in 2019 ARCPLC, no appointment is needed in Daviess County, but you will need to know which program(s) you would like to enroll your base acres in for the 2019 and 2020 crop years. It’s important to note that in many cases, signatures will be required from multiple producers to finalize the election of each farm. Signatures are required from all producers with an interest in the farm’s row crop acreage, as well as all producers that have an interest in other open acres on the farm, such as hay or pasture acreage. All required signatures must be received by our office by the March 15 deadline, or the farm will not be eligible for any 2019 ARCPLC payments. Please don’t wait until the last couple of days to make these decisions or communicate with other producers that have an interest in the same farms that you do.
This is the time of year when many leases are renewed or revisited. Landowners, if your farm is having a change in operators for the 2020 crop year, please let us know soon after the change so we can update your records. Operators, if you are changing farms or how you are going to operate this year, please let us know as soon as possible. This includes bank account changes, creating an entity or making changes to an existing one, purchasing or selling ground, renting new farms, etc.
For more information about anything in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to call the office at 660-663-3703, extension 2. We look forward to seeing you!