IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• CRP SIGNUP - General CRP Signup 66 March 9^th - April 17^th
• SDRP - Supplemental Disaster Relief Program – Stage 1 and Stage 2 - application deadline is April 30, 2026 - HAVE YOU APPLIED FOR SDRP STAGE 2 ?  Call the office to check if you have an application to complete.
• FBA – Farmers Bridge Assistance - Deadline to submit signed application April 17, 2026

Visit Farmers.gov for more information regarding deadlines and programs available through FSA and NRCS.

New County Committee Member

Ryan Britten was elected to the county committee in February. He took his oath of office and had his first meeting in March. The election cycle was delayed due to the government shutdown in October. Ryan represents the producers in the western portion of Kiowa County. He is replacing Michael Zimmerman who was termed out.

We thank Michael for his service and we welcome Ryan.

In my 15 years as a CED, I have been blessed with wonderful county committee members and am grateful for their dedication to the producers of Kiowa County.

APRIL is here!

A quarter of the year is already gone; time does fly by. It’s time for the operators to get back into the field’s, spring calving is under way, and everyone is busy.

FSA is no exception to being busy. Kiowa County has been and will continue to reach out to producers either by email or by phone to complete FBA, SDRP applications and/ or Adjusted Gross Income forms. The office has a lot of SDRP – stage 2 applications that haven’t been initiated and the deadline is fast approaching.

I’ve said before, producers need to check their email frequently as offices send a lot of the documents that need to be signed from OneSpan and the email will show up in your inbox coming from OneSpan, not from the employee’s email address. OneSpan is a legitimate website and is what USDA uses to obtain digital signatures.

DROUGHT MONITOR

Kiowa County is back on the drought monitor, which is a designation one never wants to see. Kiowa and most of SE Colorado is designated anywhere from D0 – abnormally dry to D2 - severe drought.  Wheat seems to be holding on but could sure use a drink. Praying for some rain in April, cause March was sure dry.

Image

CRP GENERAL SIGNUP

March 9, 2026, FSA will begin accepting offers for General CRP signup 66 through April 17. Currently, continuous signup (explained below) will continue through March 20. Producers interested in submitting an offer need to contact the FSA office. FSA will run a report which will give the producer the maximum rental rate per acre. For new land to be eligible, the land must meet cropping history requirements and eligible producer requirements. Cropping history years are 2012 through 2017. The producer submitting the offer must have operated or owned the land for at least one year by the April 17 date. Land that currently has a tenant or sharecropper must either be afforded the opportunity to participate in the CRP contract or voluntarily release their interest in the CRP offer.

Producers with any expiring contract is eligible to offer land for General CRP. Grassland CRP signup will be announced later this year.

Farmers Bridge Assistance Program

Producers who haven’t applied for the FBA program, need to do so no later than April 17, 2026, which is right around the corner.  Call the office today to make arrangements to get your application signed.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has opened the enrollment period for the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program, providing $11 billion in one-time bridge payments to row crop producers in response to temporary trade market disruptions and increased production costs. The FBA enrollment period opened Feb. 23 and closes April 17, 2026.  

These bridge payments are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and are administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Bridge payments are intended in part to aid farmers until historic investments from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), including reference prices which are set to increase between 10-21 percent for major covered commodities and will reach eligible farmers after Oct. 1, 2026. 

How to Apply 

Pre-filled applications will be available online to producers with a Login.gov account who timely filed their 2025 crop acreage report for eligible commodities. Producers who have a Login.gov account can access and submit their pre-filled application from fsa.usda.gov/fba. Additionally, producers can also request their pre-filled FBA application from their FSA county office.  

April 17, 2026, is the deadline to submit completed FBA applications. Producers can complete FBA applications online or submit to their FSA county office.  

Login.gov 

Login.gov is the public’s one account for government. Producers can use one account and password for secure, private access to participating government agencies, including FSA.  

To apply for FBA online, producers can start by visiting ffsa.usda.gov/fba. to create their Login.gov account. Producers who have an existing Login.gov account, can work with FSA using their existing account.   

With a secure Login.gov account, producers can be amongst the first to apply for FBA allowing them to view, certify, and submit their application as well as track their application and payment status.  

For assistance creating a Login.gov account, visit https://login.gov/help/   

Eligibility 

The following commodities are eligible for FBA: Barley, Chickpeas, Corn, Cotton, Lentils, Oats, Peanuts, Peas, Rice, Sorghum, Soybeans, Wheat, Canola, Crambe, Flax, Mustard, Rapeseed, Safflower, Sesame, and Sunflower.  

All intended uses for FBA eligible commodities are eligible excluding grazing, experimental, green manure, left standing, or cover crops. Initial acres, double crop acres, and subsequently planted acres, are eligible. Prevent plant acres are not eligible.  

Crop insurance linkage is not required; however, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new risk management tools provided for in OBBBA to best protect against future price risk and volatility.  

More information on FBA is available online at fsa.usda.gov/fba also at Farmers.gov and as always, producers can also contact their local FSA county office