Enrollment Period for 2017 Safety Net Coverage Continues Through Aug. 1

Approximately 95 percent of the Weld County Producers have enrolled their farms with base acres into the safety net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill, known as the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.  Producers can visit their local FSA office to sign contracts and enroll for the 2017 crop year. The enrollment period will continue until August 1, 2017.

 

Since shares and ownership of a farm can change year-to-year, producers on the farm must enroll by signing a contract each program year by the August 1st deadline.

 

If a farm is not enrolled during the 2017 enrollment period, the producers on that farm will not be eligible for financial assistance from the ARC or PLC programs for the 2017 crop should crop prices or farm revenues fall below the historical price or revenue benchmarks established by the program. Producers who made their elections in 2015 must still enroll during the 2017 enrollment period and before the August 1st deadline.

 

Recently the 2016 payment rates were announced for wheat and oats.  These payments will not be issued until after October 1, 2017.  The rate for wheat is $1.61 and oats is $0.34 per bushel.  The calculated payments will be reduced by a sequestration factor of 6.8 percent.

 

For more details regarding these programs, go to www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc. To find a local FSA office, visit http://offices.usda.gov.

 

 

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Information

Typically CRP acres cannot be hayed or grazed.  This summer a number of producers have applied to utilize their CRP acreage for hay and grazing purposes.  Each of these participants will be charged 25 percent of their annual payment for each acre used for livestock purposes.

 

Any producer who wishes to use CRP acreage needs to apply at the Farm Service Agency (FSA) office in advance.  All grazing is performed according to recommended stocking rate for no more than 60 days.   All hay must be cut and baled between July 16 and August 10.  All hay must be removed from the CRP acreage upon completion of the baling operations.  Bales cannot be stacked on CRP acreage.

 

 

Nominations Open for the 2017 County Committee Elections

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) encourages all farmers, ranchers, and FSA program participants to take part in the County Committee election nomination process which opens June 15th.  Weld County producers will be electing a County Committee representative for Local Administrative Area 2 (LAA 2) which encompasses the communities of Ault, Eaton, Galeton, Greeley, Gilcrest, Gill, Hardin, Johnstown, Kersey, LaSalle, Lucerne, Masters, Milliken, Pierce, Severance and Windsor.  Anyone who farms in LAA 2, and is interested in serving on the County Committee, is encouraged to completed Form FSA-669A between June 15 and August 1, 2017, and provide it to the Weld County FSA Office at 4302 West 9th Street Road in Greeley CO  80634 or by FAX (844) 332-7505.

 

The term will be for three years and will begin January 1, 2018.  Eligible candidates must reside in Weld County and farm or own farms with in LAA 2 and not have been convicted of a felony offence.  Interested applicants can visit the election website  or Jeff Wilson, County Executive Director for Weld County, for additional details.

 

Eligible voters will receive ballots beginning November 6, 2017.  Voted ballots must be returned to the Greeley Service Center or be postmarked by December 4th to be counted.

 

FSA’s county committees are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA and allow grassroots input and local administration of federal farm programs.

 

County Committee is comprised of locally elected agricultural producers responsible for the fair and equitable administration of FSA farm programs in their counties. Committee members are accountable to the Secretary of Agriculture.  If elected, members become part of a local decision making and farm program delivery process.

 

County committees may have one or more appointed advisors to further represent the local interests of underserved farmers and ranchers.

All nomination forms for the 2017 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDA service center by Aug. 1, 2017. For more information on FSA county committee elections and appointments, refer to the FSA fact sheet:   Eligibility to Vote and Hold Office as a COC Member available online at: www.fsa.usda.gov/elections.

 

 

 

USDA Announces Changes to Fruit, Vegetable and Wild Rice Planting Rules

Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced fruit, vegetable and wild rice provisions that affect producers who intend to participate in certain programs authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014.

 

Producers who intend to participate in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs are subject to an acre-for-acre payment reduction when fruits and nuts, vegetables or wild rice are planted on the payment acres of a farm. Payment reductions do not apply to mung beans, dry peas, lentils or chickpeas. Planting fruits, vegetables or wild rice on acres that are not considered payment acres will not result in a payment reduction.

 

Fruits, vegetables and wild rice that are planted in a double-cropping practice will not cause a payment reduction if the farm is in a double-cropping region as designated by the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation.

 

 

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Online Hay and Grazing Acres Locator Tool

FSA’s Hay Net website www.fsa.usda.gov/haynet  is the “go to” online resource for agricultural producers to list information concerning the need for hay and grazing acres or the availability of hay and grazing acres.

 

If, due to extenuating circumstances, producers are in need of hay and/or grazing acres to support livestock, please use Hay Net to post an advertisement seeking these resources. Likewise, landowners who have hay and/or grazing acres available for livestock producers should post a Hay Net advertisement as well.

 

A few things to remember when using the Hay Net website:

  • There is a one-time registration process that should be completed by all users who want to post an ad online.
  • Users who just want to browse ads DO NOT NEED to have an eAuthentication user id.
  • Hay and grazing acre ads will be automatically removed after a period of 13 months.
  • Please help your fellow farmer and rancher by keeping ads current and up to date and remove ads you no longer need or want advertised on Hay Net. Please, no corporate advertisements on this site.

Hay Net is brought to you by FSA as a public service. The sole purpose of this online resource is to provide a site for the exchange of information. FSA does not endorse, guarantee, or otherwise make representations of any kind regarding any user of this site and FSA is not responsible for defining the terms of grazing agreements or lease contracts.

 

For more information about Hay Net and other FSA services and programs, please contact your local FSA office.  For local FSA Service Center contact information, please visit: offices.usda.gov.