With harvest out of the way in most locations and colder weather starting to make an appearance, we are seeing business pick up at FSA. As a reminder, please call our office at (402) 269-2361, ext. 2 for service. Depending on your needs and the status of our office due to the ongoing global pandemic response, we have several options to provide you assistance. We can conduct a great deal of business by phone, virtual appointment, email, or using our office drop box. We may be limited on in-person appointments, so it is important that you always call first.

MARKETING ASSISTANCE LOANS: If you are considering taking a Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL) on your grain, and want the proceeds for this calendar year, please note we need to see you sooner rather than later to complete the loan process. Because there are several steps to securing a MAL, contact our office as soon as possible or no later than Dec. 15.

FALL TILLAGE: If your post-harvest fall field chores include possible tillage, please be mindful of highly erodible land and wetland conservation compliance provisions. Violations of such provisions could negatively impact the benefits you receive through USDA programs, including FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Risk Management Agency. Please contact us prior to tiling, clearing trees, dredging, land leveling, straightening a ditch, et cetera.

AGRICULTURE RISK COVERAGE/PRICE LOSS COVERAGE: The election and enrollment period for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) commodity crop safety net programs is open for the 2022 production season. Although election changes for 2022 are optional, you must enroll through a signed contract each year. If you have a multi-year contract, your elections and enrollment roll over and no action is necessary unless you want to make an election change or have a change in your farm, such as a change in farm ownership or shares. Contact us for more information and to start the process.

FARM LOAN NEEDS: If you are going to need farm or ranch financing for 2022, and you are having difficulty securing such assistance through a commercial lender, you may want to consider visiting with our farm loan team about options available through FSA. To schedule an appointment for such discussion, call (402) 269-2361, ext. 2.

COC ELECTION: If you live in Local Administrative Area 3, don’t forget to return your FSA County Committee election ballot to our office by Dec. 6.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

--Raela Brandt

The Nebraska USDA Farm Service Agency has opened the election and enrollment period for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2022 production season. ARC and PLC are the main commodity crop safety net programs, providing support to help mitigate fluctuations in either revenue or prices for certain crops.

Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-CO or PLC, which are both crop-by-crop, or ARC-IC, which is for the entire farm. Although election changes for 2022 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm and makes an election change for 2022 or has a change to producers or shares on the farm, it will be necessary to sign a new contract.    

If an election is not submitted by the deadline of March 15, 2022, the election remains the same as the 2021 election for crops on the farm. 

Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.     

Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed, and wheat.    

USDA has partnered with two universities to provide ARC/PLC decision-making tools to assist producers with this process. Links to these tools and other relevant information can be found on the Nebraska FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov/ne under the Spotlights section.

The election and enrollment period is open now through March 15, 2022. Producers are encouraged to complete the election and enrollment process now and will be allowed to make changes, if so desired, at any point ahead of the application deadline in March.  

To learn more or schedule an ARC/PLC election and enrollment appointment, contact your county FSA office. To find contact information for the nearest office, visit farmers.gov/service-center-locator.

Our lives are dependent on healthy soil. Healthy soil gives us clean air and water, bountiful crops and forests, productive grazing lands, diverse wildlife and beautiful landscapes. It’s the reason why USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service experts are in your community and across the nation.

Soil is composed of air, water, organic matter and minerals. A community of organisms – functioning as a soil food web – lives all or parts of their lives in soil. More individual organisms are in a teaspoon of soil than there are people on earth. Increasing soil organic matter typically improves soil health, since organic matter improves several critical functions of soil.

To improve the health of their soil, more and more farmers and ranchers are keeping soil covered, reducing disturbance activities such as tilling, keeping plants growing throughout the year, and diversifying the crops they’re planting in a rotation. Taking these steps allow farmers and ranchers to help reduce erosion while increasing the soil’s ability to provide nutrients and water to the plant at critical times during the growing season. 

When producers focus on improving soil health, they often have larger harvests, lower input costs, optimized nutrient use, and improved crop resilience during drought years like last year. In heavy rainfall years, healthy soil holds more water, reducing runoff that helps avert flooding downstream.

And because healthy soil allows for greater water infiltration and less erosion, nutrients and pesticides stay on the farm where they benefit crops, and are far less likely to be carried off the farm into streams and lakes where they can cause harm.

NRCS helps farmers plan and complete conservation practices such as cover crops to maintain and improve soil health – all of which can lead to productive, profitable and sustainable farming and ranching operations for generations to come.

For more information, contact your Otoe County USDA Service Center at (402) 269-2361, ext. 3, or visit nrcs.usda.gov.

FSA is cleaning up our producer record database and we need your help. Please report any changes of address, zip code, phone number, email address or an incorrect name or business name on file to our office. You should also report changes in your farm operation, like the addition of a farm by lease or purchase. You should also report any changes to your operation in which you reorganize to form a Trust, LLC or other legal entity.

FSA and NRCS program participants are required to promptly report changes in their farming operation to the County Committee in writing and to update their Farm Operating Plan on form CCC-902.

To update your records, contact your Otoe County USDA Service Center at (402) 269-2361, ext. 2.

OPERATING/OWNERSHIP
Farm Operating: 1.750%
Microloan Operating: 1.750%
Farm Ownership: 2.875%
Farm Ownership - Joint Financing: 2.5%
Farm Ownership - Down Payment: 1.5%
Emergency - Actual Loss: 2.750%

FARM STORAGE

Farm Storage Facility Loan 3 year term: 0.625%
Farm Storage Facility Loan 5 year term: 1%
Farm Storage Facility Loan 7 year term: 1.375%
Farm Storage Facility Loan 10 year term: 1.5%
Farm Storage Facility Loan 12 year term: 1.625%

MARKETING ASSISTANCE
Commodity Loan: 1.125%