Manager's Comments
We have received much needed rain since early September and it was greatly appreciated. Pastures and lawns greened up fairly well. FSA is here to help producers affected by the 2021 drought. Please read the articles in this bulletin for additional details about programs available to relieve livestock producer who lost significant forage this year, needed to haul water or feed to their livestock pastures, and crop farmers who had production losses.
CRP and PLC Payments to be Issued in October! The FSA office will be issuing CRP payments along with PLC payments on wheat base in October. If you have made changes to your bank account where your direct deposit is made, please provide your current account information to the FSA office so there will be no delay in payments.
Livestock Forage Disaster Program – Due to the current classification of D-3 Extreme Drought on the U.S. Drought monitor, West Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties have been authorized to implement the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP). LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers who own or lease grazed forage crop acreage (native and improved pastureland) with permanent vegetative cover. The program calculates eligibility using producer certified eligible livestock inventories and pastureland acreages reported on the 2021 FSA-578 Report of Commodities. Informational packets were mailed to all livestock operations that participated in the 2020 CFAP programs and reported livestock inventory to FSA. If you did not participate in the CFAP programs or get a packet, contact your FSA office and we can send you the information.
Pasture Acres – The first step in meeting the qualifications for the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) is to make sure that all of your pasture/grazing acres are reported and certified to FSA. Please review your FSA-578s completed this summer to ensure that all of your pasture/grazing acres are reported. If you have pasture/grazing acres that are not reported and certified to FSA, please contact our office to get those acres reported. Once these acres are reported, you will be able to move to the next step in submitting an application for Livestock Forage Program (LFP) assistance.
Water supply drying up for your pastured livestock? – Producers who hauled water to pastures that normally don’t require it, may be eligible for a water transport payment under the ELAP program. Also, recently added to the ELAP program was assistance to cover feed transportation costs for drought impacted ranchers. If you are experiencing either of these issues or want to know more about the program please contact our office.
CRP – Some of you may have established a new CRP practice or completed Mid Contract Management (clipping or burning). Whether or not you want to be reimbursed for cost share, once you are done, be sure to submit the necessary paperwork to our office to certify completion. (Seed tags, invoices for work, etc.) We’ll continue to process them in the order they were received.
Haying and Grazing of CRP Acres – If you were approved for emergency or non-emergency haying or grazing of CRP, please report to the FSA office once the activity is complete. This is part of the compliance process and no annual payments will be issued until the office is able to finalize the approved activity. As a requirement of haying CRP acres, the bales must be removed from the field. You are not allowed to store the bales long-term on CRP contract acres.
CRP Contract Reminders – Even though conditions are dry, the volunteer trees and noxious weeds still seem to flourish. It is highly recommended to take some time to walk through your CRP contract acres to ensure that no volunteer trees or noxious weeds are becoming a potential problem. Undetected, these issues could become costly for a participant as a noncompliance issue that could result in an annual payment reduction and/or possible contract termination.
Marketing Assistance Loans (MAL) – With the current market prices, you may want to consider taking out a 9-month Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL) this year. MALs are a great tool for interim financing after harvest to help meet cash flow needs without having to sell commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. The loan allows for flexibility in marketing throughout the year. Contact the FSA office for additional details and to answer any questions you may have.
FSFL’s – Grain carts, grain trucks, semi-trucks, semi-trailers (hopper, live bottom, end dump), bulk milk tanks, baggers, bale wrappers, sugar beet carts, augers, and chopper boxes are just a partial list of farm equipment that can be purchased using the FSFL program at the FSA office. Loans range from 3 to 12 years. Interest rates are very favorable at this time. Contact the FSA office for additional details.
Applying for CFAP2 Assistance – Modifications have been made to the CFAP2 program including adding contract growers and allowing 2018 sales to be substituted for 2019 sales on sales-based commodities (specialty crops). Newly eligible producers who need to submit a CFAP 2 application or producers who need to modify an existing application can do so by contacting their local FSA office. All new and modified CFAP 2 applications are due by the October 12th deadline. See article included in this bulletin.
WHIP+ and QLA – If you are a producer who received payments on WHIP+ or QLA, you have recently received a notification of the linkage requirement on the applicable crops in which you received payment. You must obtain crop insurance on the applicable commodity in crop years 2022 and 2023 at a 60/100 level or higher to maintain compliance. For crops in which crop insurance is not available, you must obtain NAP coverage through FSA. The deadline to apply for NAP coverage for perennial forage for 2022 is September 30, 2021. The letter is a courtesy reminder, no documentation needs to be submitted to FSA.
With the fall harvest having started and it will continue to busy for the next several weeks, remember to keep safety in mind. Remember to stay safe and healthy.
Leon Johnson, CED
Important Dates and Deadlines
September 30 Deadline to report CRP acres hayed or grazed to FSA under Emergency
and Non-Emergency Provisions
September 30 Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) Minnesota
closing deadline for perennial forage, wild rice, asparagus, rhubarb,
strawberries, and garlic
October 11 Office closed for Columbus Day
October 12 Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2) Signup Deadline November 1 Deadline to submit an application for the Organic Certification Cost
Share Program Application
November 15 Deadline to report fall seeded crops (Rye, Winter Wheat)
September 2021 Interest Rates
1.125% - Commodity Loans
Farm Loan Program
1.875% - Farm Operating Loans, Direct
3.00% - Farm Ownership Loans, Direct
2.50% - Farm Ownership, Joint Financing
1.50% - Farm Ownership Loans, Beginning Farmer Down Payment
Farm Storage Facility Loan Program
0.375% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 3-Year
0.75% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 5-Year
1.00% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 7-Year
1.25% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 10-Year
1.375% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 12-Year
2021 Commodity Loan Rates:
Wilkin County
Corn $2.03 / Bushel
Soybeans $5.97 / Bushel
Wheat (HRS) $3.62 / Bushel
West Otter Tail
Corn $2.07 / Bushel
Soybeans $5.95 / Bushel
Wheat (HRS) $3.63 / Bushel
Keep Connected with FSA: With all of the existing programs and new programs becoming available to assist you, I don’t want you to miss out on any of these deadlines. I highly encourage you to sign up for our text message alerts. FSA provides text message alerts (no more than 2 per month) for important reminders and deadlines. Don’t miss out on getting these reminders. Let’s get you signed up right now! Take out your phone, send a message to 372-669 with MNWESTOTTERTAIL OR MNWILKIN in the box of the text, and hit send. If you did these 3 easy steps you are signed up to receive text alerts. Thanks for doing this and you will receive quick reminders of important deadlines.
West Otter Tail County was declared a primary/contiguous disaster due to drought and heat using the streamlined Secretarial Disaster Designation process. Under this designation, producers with operations in any primary or contiguous county are eligible to apply for low interest emergency loans.
The streamlined disaster designation process issues a drought disaster declaration when a county has experienced a drought intensity value of at least a D2 (severe drought) level for eight consecutive weeks based on the U.S. Drought Monitor during the crop year.
Emergency loans help you recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding and other natural disasters or quarantine.
Producers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for emergency loan assistance. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. Producers can borrow up to 100 percent of actual production or physical losses, to a maximum amount of $500,000.
For more information about emergency loans, contact the West Otter Tail County USDA Service Center at 218-739-4694 or visit fsa.usda.gov.
Producers in Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties are eligible to apply for 2021 Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) benefits on eligible pasture acres.
LFP provides compensation if you suffer grazing losses for covered livestock due to drought on privately owned or cash leased land or fire on federally managed land.
County committees can only accept LFP applications after notification is received by the National Office of qualifying drought or if a federal agency prohibits producers from grazing normal permitted livestock on federally managed lands due to qualifying fire. You must complete a CCC-853 and the required supporting documentation no later than January 31, 2022, for 2021 losses.
For additional information about LFP, including eligible livestock and fire criteria, contact the West Otter Tail County USDA Service Center at 218-739-4694 or Wilkin County USDA Service Center at 218-643-1536 or visit fsa.usda.gov.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is updating the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2) for contract producers of eligible livestock and poultry and producers of specialty crops and other sales-based commodities. CFAP 2, which assists producers who faced market disruptions in 2020 due to COVID-19, is part of USDA’s broader Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative. Additionally, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has set an October 12th deadline for all eligible producers to apply for or modify applications for CFAP 2.
Assistance for Contract Producers
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, provides up to $1 billion for payments to contract producers of eligible livestock and poultry for revenue losses from January 1, 2020, through December 27, 2020. Contract producers of broilers, pullets, layers, chicken eggs, turkeys, hogs and pigs, ducks, geese, pheasants and quail may be eligible for assistance. This update includes eligible breeding stock and eggs of all eligible poultry types produced under contract.
Payments for contract producers were to be based on a comparison of eligible revenue for the periods of January 1, 2019, through December 27, 2019, and January 1, 2020, through December 27, 2020. Today’s changes mean contract producers can now elect to use eligible revenue from the period of January 1, 2018, through December 27, 2018, instead of that date range in 2019 if it is more representative. The difference in revenue is then multiplied by 80% to determine a final payment. Payments to contract producers may be factored if total calculated payments exceed the available funding and will be made after the application period closes.
Additional flexibilities have been added to account for increases to operation size in 2020 and situations where a contract producer did not have a full period of revenue from January 1 to December 27 for either 2018 or 2019. Assistance is also available to new contract producers who began their farming operation in 2020.
Updates for Sales-Based Commodities
USDA is amending the CFAP 2 payment calculation for sales-based commodities, which are primarily comprised of by specialty crops, to allow producers to substitute 2018 sales for 2019 sales. Previously, payments for producers of sales-based commodities were based only on 2019 sales, with 2019 used as an approximation of the amount the producer would have expected to market in 2020. Giving producers the option to substitute 2018 sales for this approximation, including 2018 crop insurance indemnities and 2018 crop year Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) and Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+) payments, provides additional flexibility to producers of sales-based commodities who had reduced sales in 2019.
Grass seed has also been added as an eligible sales commodity for CFAP 2. A complete list of all eligible sales-based commodities can be found at farmers.gov/cfap2/commodities. Producers of sales-based commodities can modify existing applications.
Applying for Assistance
Newly eligible producers who need to submit a CFAP 2 application or producers who need to modify an existing one can do so by contacting their local FSA office. Producers can find their local FSA office by visiting farmers.gov/service-locator. Producers can also obtain one-on-one support with applications by calling 877-508-8364. All new and modified CFAP 2 applications are due by the Oct. 12 deadline.
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Small nonfarm businesses in Minnesota may be eligible to apply for low‑interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. By law, SBA makes Economic Injury Disaster Loans available when the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agricultural disaster.
SBA eligibility covers both the economic impacts on businesses dependent on farmers and ranchers that have suffered agricultural production losses caused by the disaster and businesses directly impacted by the disaster.
Small nonfarm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred.
Eligibility for these loans is based on the financial impact of the disaster only and not on any actual property damage. These loans have an interest rate of 3 percent for businesses and 2 percent for private nonprofit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years and are available to small businesses and most private nonprofits without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship.
Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching are not eligible for SBA disaster assistance. Agricultural enterprises should contact the Farm Services Agency about the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance made available by the Secretary’s declaration. However, nurseries are eligible for SBA disaster assistance in drought disasters.
Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance.
Farmers can use USDA farm ownership microloans to buy and improve property. These microloans are especially helpful to beginning or underserved farmers, U.S. veterans looking for a career in farming, and those who have small and mid-sized farming operations.
Microloans have helped farmers and ranchers with operating costs, such as feed, fertilizer, tools, fencing, equipment, and living expenses since 2013.
Microloans can also help with farmland and building purchases and soil and water conservation improvements. FSA designed the expanded program to simplify the application process, expand eligibility requirements and expedite smaller real estate loans to help farmers strengthen their operations. Microloans provide up to $50,000 to qualified producers and can be issued to the applicant directly from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA).
To learn more about the FSA microloan program, contact your East Otter Tail County USDA Service Center at 218-346-4260 or visit fsa.usda.gov/microloans.
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