USDA Update

By Rod Johnson

June 27, 2003

What a difference a year makes. I have heard producers saying they can't get in the fields to finish planting because it is too wet and some spring planted crops were lost because of too much rain. It has been a long time since we have heard that. We are still not over the damaging effects of the past three years of drought but many areas of the county are beginning to build subsoil moisture. Other areas, especially west of Highway 287, still have very limited subsoil moisture but most have received enough rain to green up the native grass and germinate crops.

All crops, cropland uses and grass acreages must be reported to the Kiowa County FSA Office no later than July 15, 2003 to avoid late reporting fees. FSA does offer measurement service for a nominal fee if you need assistance determining acreages. Acreage reports are required for participation in numerous USDA programs.

We have begun processing applications for the 2001/2002 Crop Disaster Program. When we have your applications processed we will either mail them to you or notify you by telephone or letter to come into the FSA Office to complete your application. We have a lot of reconciliation to complete between the Crop Insurance records and FSA records. The Crop Insurance records do not show; farm numbers, if the crop was planted following another crop (subsequent acres), and in many cases the operator insured the entire crop but FSA has the crop shares separately for other programs. In some cases, not all the crop is insurable so the acres may be different. The FSA staff needs to take all of these different issues into account in preparing applications. Originally we thought the 2002 year would be the year with the highest payments for most producers but it appears in many cases the crop insurance yields decreased in 2002 from the 2001 yields. This is going to be a very time consuming process and they have given us no extra help. We are trying to do everything we can to make the process run smoothly. Please be patient with us.

FSA and NRCS Office will have a joint conference call on July 9 to review the requirements to make application for the new Grassland Reserve Program. We will send a letter out to all producers with information on the new program as soon as we have adequate information available.

Producers with land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are required to maintain the cover in accordance with the conservation plan developed at the time the land was enrolled. All plans include a requirement to be in compliance with State noxious weed laws. The County Committee has no authority to determine a violation of the State noxious weed laws. The County Committee does have the authority to determine that undesirable vegetation, weeds (including noxious weeds) insects, rodents, etc, that pose a threat to existing cover on the CRP acres or adversely impact other landowners in the area are controlled.

With the increased moisture this spring, we are hearing reports of CRP fields with lots of bindweed blooming. There is also a increased amount of Russian Knapweed and Jointed Goatgrass appearing on many fields. If a violation of failing to control weeds is determined by the County Committee, they are required to determine if there has been a "good faith" effort made to be in compliance with the CRP contract. If a good faith effort determination is made, the County Committee is still required to assess a payment reduction equal to 2 times the estimated cost of controlling the weeds times the acres in violation. The producer is still responsible for doing a control operation. If the Committee determines a "lack of good faith" the CRP contract may be terminated.

A problem with weed control at this time of the year is that we are in the "nesting period" for wildlife (March 15 to July 15). Normally spraying and mowing operations are prohibited during the nesting period. If there are serious problems that will affect cover or adversely impact other landowners in the area, the County Committee will need to authorize maintenance activities during the "nesting period".

FSA is required to notify all producers on our records of the sales closing dates for Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) crops at least 60 days before the FIRST sales closing date. Each producer who shares in a crop that is uninsurable and wants NAP coverage for disaster losses IN 2004, will be required to pay a $100 per crop (maximum $300 per county and $900 in all counties) before the sales closing date for the crop. Producers who purchased 2003 NAP coverage have been mailed a notification letter concerning payment of fees for the 2004 NAP. Included with the letter, is a list of the sales closing dates for all crops normally grown in Kiowa County. If you did not receive a letter and would like a copy of the sales closing dates, please contact the FSA Office. The earliest sales closing date is September 1, 2003 for continuous cropped winter wheat, winter barley, winter triticale, fall canola and rye. The sales closing date for native grass NAP coverage has been moved to December 1, 2003 for the 2004 growing season. The simplest way to make sure you have 2004 NAP coverage on all eligible crops is to pay your $300 fee prior to September 1.

For those of you with computers, Kiowa County FSA now has its own web site at:

http://www.fsa.usda.gov/co?County%20Webs/Kiowa_county.htm. From this web site you can select an employee and directly send an e-mail to that person. The USDA Update will also be posted to this web site. Since the UPDATE article is added to the site by our web manager in the State Office, there may be some delays when it is posted. We are thinking we will leave the most current four UPDATE articles on the web site. If you have other suggestions for the web site, we would be glad to hear them. Be sure to have the kids check out the "Kids Corner" for a variety of ag related activities.

Note in the table of Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP) rates that the market price of wheat and oats has dropped to where there is an LDP rate in effect. There is also an LDP rate for sunflowers but it will not apply until the fall harvest. The basics of receiving an LDP are that you must have "beneficial interest" in the harvested crop (you have not sold and still have control) when you apply for LDP. You DO NOT have to sell the grain to request an LDP. You may request LDP’s on portions of the crop production at different times. The final date to receive an LDP on 2003 crop wheat is March 31, 2004.