USDA Update

by Rod Johnson

January 10, 2003

Happy New Year! By now, agricultural producers should have received their 2002 Census of Agriculture Census forms from NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service). We encourage you to fill out the forms accurately and submit them timely. Agricultural statistics are used for numerous farm programs. Incomplete or inaccurate data can create problems in the future. By law, your report cannot be used for purposes of taxation, investigation or regulation.

Floyd Barnes was reelected to the Kiowa County FSA Committee for a 3-year term. Barbara Wilson was elected first alternate and Leo Specht was elected as second alternate. Jose Vazques will serve as a member of the Community Committee in the event Community Committees are called upon. A total of 155 valid ballots were received in the election. The County Committee is your "grass roots" organization for administering and making decisions locally on the farm programs.

USDA Service Centers will be closed on Monday, January 20 in observance of the Martin Luther King Birthday Holiday. Offices will reopen on Tuesday, January 21.

The Kiowa County FSA Office is current with issuing all 2002 and 2003 advance Direct Payments on contracts where producers have signed up and all signatures and forms are returned. Producers that are updating crop bases and are furnishing production records will have payments issued as soon as their production forms are approved by the County Committee. The County Committee normally meets only on the second Tuesday of each month, but additional meetings may be scheduled as needed.

The FSA Office has also finished issuing all Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) payments on the 2002 grass losses. We are still waiting on computer downloads from Washington before we can make NAP payments on other crops.

All producers that received a payment under FSA administered programs in 2002 should receive form CCC-1099G Report of Payments to Producers, by January 31, 2003. The FSA Office will also receive a listing of all payments issued and will be able to assist you with any questions on the 1099G reports.

The Kiowa County Commissioners contacted Senator Allard's and Campbell's offices for assistance in gaining an extension of the emergency CRP grazing past December 31 but their requests were denied. The Colorado State FSA Office notified counties on December 31 that no additional extensions would be granted and this was the final ruling. We are not aware of what process is used in Washington for evaluating and approving emergency grazing of CRP. There may be valid reasons for not approving a further extension of the CRP grazing but no one seems to want us to know why.

Foreign persons, who acquire or transfer an interest in agricultural land, are required to report changes within 90 days to the county FSA office where the land is located. Failure to properly report can result in substantial civil penalties.

The interest rate for commodity loans disbursed in January 2003 is 2.50% per annum. The interest rate for farm storage facility loans is 3.750% per annum.