USDA Update – February 18, 2019

Eads USDA Service Center Staff

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

EXTENDED – FEBRUARY 28 - DEADLINE to apply for 2018 (LFP) Livestock Forage Program –
MFP production deadline – May 1, 2019
COC Meeting - March 19^th– 9:00 a.m.
CRP Primary Nesting Season begins March 15^th
Continuous CRP Grassland Signup 201 –Offers being accepted - $5.00 per acre rental rate

Disclaimer: Information in this UPDATE is pertinent to Kiowa County FSA only. Producers reading this and that do not have FSA interest in Kiowa County are advised to contact their local FSA Office.

Kiowa County Committee Reorganizational Meeting

The Kiowa County FSA Committee held the reorganizational meeting February 14. Due to the Government shutdown this was delayed.

Destiny (Duff) Haase – LAA 2 (Central area) – reelected to the COC in December will serve as Chairperson.

Sean Harkness – LAA 1 (East area) will serve as Vice-Chairperson.

Michael Zimmerman – LAA 3 (West area) will serve as Regular Member.

Monthly meetings are scheduled for the third Tuesday of each month. Meetings will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the USDA Service Center in Eads.

CRP PRIMARY NESTING SEASON

The beginning of primary nesting season (PNS) is fast approaching. The nesting season begins March 15 and ends July 15^,during the PNS there can be no disturbance to established CRP grass cover. CRP producers who are required to complete a contract management or are required to perform a weed control cannot complete those requirements during that four-month period. Initial seeding of permanent cover or re-seeding of failed seedings must be completed by April 30, as those contract acres are not deemed to have established permanent cover.

FARM STORAGE FACILITY LOANS

Many producers believe the Farm Storage Facility or (FSFL) loans are for only grain bins, but truly the intent of the FSFL Program is to provide on-farm storage to producers to store and handle eligible facility loan commodities they produce. FSFL collateral must be used for the purpose for which the FSFL storage, equipment and handling truck was acquired, constructed or installed for the entire FSFL term.

Eligible storage and handling trucks, new or used, include the following, for FSFL purposes.

grain trucks; a piece of farm equipment specially made to accommodate grain products and are traditionally truck chassis units with a mounted grain “dump” body where grain commodities are transported from a field to either a grain elevator or a storage bin.

Eligible Equipment necessary for eligible FSFL commodities include some of the following.

augers
baggers (excluding bags)
circulation fans

There is a long list of eligible equipment, for more information you can either:

visit www.fsa.usda.gov– click on Fact Sheets, scroll to Loans and click on Farm Storage Facility Loans
visit your local FSA Office to obtain a copy of the Fact Sheet.

Kiowa County NRCS Office

Scott Smith, with the Cheyenne County NRCS Office is currently overseeing the Kiowa County NRCS Office. Scott is normally in Eads on Wednesday’s after 10:00 a.m. Producers can call the Cheyenne County NRCS @ 719-767-5648, ext. 3 to set up an appointment with Scott.