USDA Update

By Rod Johnson

October 31, 2003

The Colorado State FSA Office recently obtained authority to hire additional temporary employees to help county offices with the excessive workload. On October 6, Shawn Kelley began working as a temporary in the Kiowa County FSA Office. Carla Warman was hired as a temporary in August and has been a great help in processing 2001/2002 Crop Disaster applications. The additional help is greatly appreciated and will help the office make progress in getting caught up. Maybe by some time next spring the office will be back to some level of normalcy. We still have plenty to keep us busy this winter.

Tuesday, November 11, is a day set aside to honor our Veterans, past and present. The FSA and NRCS Offices along with other Federal and State agencies will be closed. Take time on November 11th to reflect on the service and sacrifices our Veterans have and are making to protect our freedoms.

If you have Noninsured Crops that have failed or will have a low yield, contact the FSA Office to file an application for loss. The acreage may need to be inspected and any production will need to be documented. It is especially important to contact the FSA Office before grazing crop residue since an appraisal may be required. If you have baled production this may require a measurement service to document production even if you have not had a loss. The best policy for NAP crops is to contact the FSA Office for guidance.

Since we are beginning to process farm records for the 2004 crop year, we need to know about any farm changes you are making. Please immediately advise the office of any change of operators, sales or purchases of land that will be effective for 2004.

The 2002 Farm Bill provided for Counter-cyclical on crops when market prices are low. The Secretary of Agriculture has projected potential Counter-cyclical payments for some Kiowa County crops. Producers may request 35% of the projected payment as an advance payment beginning in October 2003. Projected payments and the 35% advance payment rate are as follows: Wheat - $.09 - $.0315, Sorghum - $.04 - $.014, Corn - $.22 - $.077. No other Kiowa County crops are eligible for advance payment. Most producers did not request advance payments. If you do want advance Counter-cyclical payments contact the FSA Office and we will make the necessary changes. The thing to remember about Counter-cyclical payments is that they are not guaranteed. If the final payment rate determined in the summer of 2004 is less than the advance payments received, a refund of the payment will be required. The Secretary of Agriculture will make an updated estimate of the national average market prices for crops in February of 2004. At that time producers may request 70% of the projected payment to be issued, less any advance payment previously issued.

Now that Conservation Reserve Program and final 2003 Direct Payments have been issued, we are back working on the 2001/2002 crop disaster applications. We should have applications for most operators in the county completed this week and are working on owners applications. We do still have some operators we have requested to obtain additional information before the applications can be completed.

We have begun the process of preparing applications for the 2004 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment program. To speed up the process, we intend to run contracts for all operators and owners and show advance payments in January 2004 and no advance counter-cyclical payments. We plan on making a mailing of all applications to obtain signatures. If you prefer advance payments in December 2003, or if you do not want advance payments, there will be instructions with the applications on how to make the changes. We are asking that you let us know no later than December 15 if you want advance 2004 payments in the 2003 tax year. Most producers did not request advance counter-cyclical payments for 2003 so we are not showing a request for advance counter-cyclical payments on the 2004 application. If you do want advance counter-cyclical payments the instructions will indicate how you need to mark the application.