USDA Update

By Rod Johnson

August 27, 2004

Due to the drought and freeze conditions experienced this spring, Kiowa County and surrounding counties have been declared eligible for emergency (EM) loans through the Farm Service Agency. The disaster designation number is "S 1947". EM loans for Kiowa County are administered by the Farm Loan Staff in the Prowers County FSA Office at 3501 South Main in Lamar. Their phone number is 719-336-3437.

September 1, 2004 is the final date to obtain Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance coverage for 2005 crops of winter wheat, barley, canola, rye, triticale and mixed forage. Native grass and alfalfa NAP coverage for 2005 must be purchased no later than December 1, 2004

NRCS has been checking CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) contracts across the county. They have driven by some previously certified CRP fields that have had significant grass die-out due to the drought. Remember, it is the CRP producer’s responsibility to check their fields and perform necessary maintenance! A $5.00 per acre maintenance payment is annually added to all CRP contract payments to assist with maintenance issues. If the FSA or NRCS Office performs a spot check or an adjoining landowner files a complaint and weeds have not been controlled, the matter will be presented to the County Committee and significant payment reductions may be assessed. The payment reduction for failure to control weeds is the estimated cost per acre to carry out satisfactory control measures, times the number of acres in violation, times 2. The Committee has set the estimated cost of weed control at $7.00 per acre. Multiply this by 2 and that is $14.00 per acre payment reduction and you are still required to control the weeds! The County Committee must first determine that the CRP participant has made a "good faith" effort to comply with the CRP contract. If a "good faith" determination is not made, the contract may be terminated. The penalties for not taking care of your CRP can be substantial. The drought has caused some grass die-out and heavy weed growth on some contracts. If you check your CRP fields and have a problem, contact the FSA Office and we will work with you to resolve the problem. If the County Committee needs to review the matter after a spot check or complaint then we have to treat it as a potential violation. We have a lot of CRP that is still in good condition despite the drought but the problem fields must be addressed and that is the producer’s responsibility.

September 3, 2004 is the final date for agricultural producers in Local Administrative Area (LAA) #3 (Arlington/Haswell area west of County Road 27) to submit nominations for the upcoming FSA County Committee elections. Nomination forms are available from the FSA Office in Eads. Kiowa County is divided into three LAA"s and each LAA holds an election for a County Committee member once every three years. County Committee members may serve a maximum of three consecutive three year terms. Paul Zimmerman, Vice Chairperson of the County Committee is the incumbent in LAA#3. Other members of the County Committee are Floyd Barnes, Chairperson, Les Rittgers, Regular member and Fran Larrew, Committee Advisor representing the W.I.F.E organization.

Beginning August 30, 2004, the Kiowa County FSA Office will begin taking Conservation Reserve Program applications for signup 29. Kiowa County exceeds the 25% limit of cropland currently enrolled in CRP. Because of this, only eligible cropland administered by Kiowa County FSA but physically located in an adjoining county that has not reached the cropland limit will be eligible to be offered. Also eligible will be any CRP in the county that expires in October 1, 2004 or 2005. To be eligible, cropland must have been planted to a crop in 4 of the past 6 years. Successful offers will become effective October 1, 2005 or October 1, 2006 at the producer’s discretion. An environmental Benefits Index is used to rank the acreage offered. The index is based on costs and five other factors: soil erosion, water quality, enduring benefits, air quality and wildlife enhancement. Most CRP offers in Kiowa County will expire in 2007 and 2008. Although there has been talk of an early signup period for these expiring contracts, it will not be during this current signup.

Trade One LLC, P.O. Box 7, Lamar CO 81052 has added two new locations and will be operating under warehouse code 8-8004 and UGRSA Agreement No. AG08-3-CCC-0453. The addition of the two locations’ capacity of 1,269,000 bushels is due to approval of Trade One LLC as successor to Archer Daniels Midland Company. The two new sites are located at Hugo and Genoa in Lincoln County. This announcement also terminates the agreement with Archer Daniels Midland Company at these locations due to the successor’s agreement.