Manager's Comments
The Redwood County Service Center would like to wish you all a Happy Holiday season. With the New Year here, we have a few updates and reminders to pass along.
County Committee elections for LAA 2- This year, LAA 2, which includes Redwood Falls, Paxton, Sherman, New Avon, Three Lakes, Morgan, Sundown, and Brookville Townships held a County Committee election. Ann Ramey was re-elected to serve a 3-year term on the County Committee, beginning January 1, 2022. Congratulations to Ann, and many thanks to all of our County Committee members for their willingness to serve on the committee.
Livestock Indemnity Program/Notification of Loss- As the area experiences more winter storms, this is a good time to remind you to keep good records and timely report livestock losses to the office. Livestock owners or contract growers must file a notice of loss within 30 calendar days of when the loss is first apparent. One piece of documentation that can be used in the verification process is rendering truck receipts, but we understand every situation is a little different and we will work with you through the application process. I have included a full article below to describe the program more.
Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage (ARC/PLC)- The 2022 ARC/PLC sign up began mid-October and runs through March 15, 2022. This is your opportunity to make election changes for the farm program based on information specific to your farm and predictions you have for the coming year. Your choices are the same as previous years of ARC-CO, PLC and ARC-IC. We would encourage you all to take a minute to find out what you are currently enrolled in. For more information on your options, please go to ARC/PLC Program (usda.gov). We are anticipating a heavy spring workload, so we urge you to reach out to our office now to get your farms signed up for the 2022 ARCPLC program. Remember, you can always change your election right up to the March 15, 2022 deadline.
Our offices will be closed Friday, December 31, so please keep that in mind when planning your business.
Please contact the office at 507-637-5735 ext. 2 regarding any questions pertaining to the information within this bulletin, or any other concerns you may have.
Blaine Knutson, CED
- Dec. 31- Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program closing deadline for honey and maple sap.
- Dec. 31- USDA offices are closed in observance of New Year’s Day
- Jan. 2- Deadline to report total number of honeybee colonies to FSA
- Jan. 7- Deadline to apply for Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program (OTECP)
- Jan. 15- Annual acreage reporting deadline for Apples
- Jan. 17- USDA offices are closed for the Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
- Jan. 31- Deadline to Apply for Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP)
- Jan. 31- Deadline to apply for water and feed transportation assistance through ELAP
- Jan. 31- Deadline to Apply for Loan or LDP for Mohair, Unshorn Pelts (LDP Only) or Wool
- Feb. 18- Deadline for Dairy Margin Coverage and Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage Program
- Feb. 25- Deadline for Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program
- Mar. 15- Enrollment/Election Period ends for 2022 ARCPLC Program
- Mar. 15- Deadline to Purchase 2022 NAP Coverage for Spring-Seeded Crops
The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides assistance to you for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather, disease and attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law.
For disease losses, FSA county committees can accept veterinarian certifications that livestock deaths were directly related to adverse weather and unpreventable through good animal husbandry and management.
For 2021 livestock losses, you must file a notice within 30 calendar days of when the loss is first apparent. You then must provide the following supporting documentation to your local FSA office no later than 60 calendar days after the end of the calendar year in which the eligible loss condition occurred.
- Proof of death documentation
- Copy of grower’s contracts
- Proof of normal mortality documentation
USDA has established normal mortality rates for each type and weight range of eligible livestock, i.e. Adult Beef Cow = 1.5% and Non-Adult Beef Cattle (less than 400 pounds) = 5%. These established percentages reflect losses that are considered expected or typical under “normal” conditions.
In addition to filing a notice of loss, you must also submit an application for payment by March 1, 2021.
For more information, contact the Redwood County USDA Service Center at 507-637-5735 or visit fsa.usda.gov.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in the process of issuing $1.8 billion in payments to agricultural producers who enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2020 crop year. These payments provide critical support to help mitigate fluctuations in either revenue or prices for certain crops. These two USDA safety-net programs help producers of certain crops build back better after facing the impacts of COVID-19 and other challenges.
In addition, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is encouraging producers to contact their local USDA Service Centers to make or change elections and to enroll for 2022 ARC or PLC, providing future protections against market fluctuations. The election and enrollment period opened on Oct. 18, 2021 and runs through March 15, 2022.
2020 Payments and Contracts
ARC and PLC payments for a given crop year are paid out the following fall to allow actual county yields and the Market Year Average prices to be finalized. This month, FSA processed payments to producers enrolled in 2020 ARC-County (ARC-CO), ARC-Individual (ARC-IC) and PLC for covered commodities that triggered for the crop year.
For ARC-CO, view the 2020 ARC-CO Benchmark Yields and Revenues online database for payment rates applicable to their county and each covered commodity.
For PLC, payments have triggered for barley, canola, chickpeas (large and small), dry peas, flaxseed, lentils, peanuts, seed cotton and wheat. More information on rice payments will be announced later this fall and in early 2022.
For ARC-IC, producers should contact their local FSA office for additional information pertaining to 2020 payment information, which relies on producer-specific yields for the crop and farm to determine benchmark yields and actual year yields when calculating revenues.
By the Numbers
More than 1.7 million contracts were signed in 2019. In 2020, producers signed nearly 1.8 million ARC or PLC contracts, and 251 million out of 273 million base acres were enrolled in the programs. In 2021, signed contracts surpassed 1.8 million.
Since the ARC and PLC were authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill, these safety-net programs have paid out more than $32.5 billion to producers of covered commodities.
2022 Elections and Enrollment
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, 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.
Web-Based Decision Tools
In partnership with USDA, the University of Illinois and Texas A&M University offer web-based decision tools to assist producers in making informed, educated decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations. Tools include:
- Gardner-farmdoc Payment Calculator, a tool available through the University of Illinois allows producers to estimate payments for farms and counties for ARC-CO and PLC.
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ARC and PLC Decision Tool, a tool available through Texas A&M tallows producers to estimate payments and yield updates and expected payments for 2022.
Crop Insurance Considerations
ARC and PLC are part of a broader safety net provided by USDA, which also includes crop insurance and marketing assistance loans.
Producers are reminded that ARC and PLC elections and enrollments can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products.
Producers on farms with a PLC election have the option of purchasing Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through their Approved Insurance Provider; however, producers on farms where ARC is the election are ineligible for SCO on their planted acres for that crop on that farm.
Unlike SCO, the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is unaffected by an ARC election. Producers may add ECO regardless of the farm program election.
Upland cotton farmers who choose to enroll seed cotton base acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible for the stacked income protection plan (STAX) on their planted cotton acres for that farm.
More Information
For more information on ARC and PLC, visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact your local USDA Service Center.
An online tool is now available to help ranchers document and estimate payments to cover feed transportation costs caused by drought, which are now covered by the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated the program this year to include feed transportation costs as well as lowered the threshold for when assistance for water hauling expenses is available. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin taking applications this fall.
The new ELAP Feed Transportation Producer Tool is a Microsoft Excel workbook that enables ranchers to input information specific to their operation to determine an estimated payment. Final payments may vary depending on eligibility.
To use the tool, ranchers will need:
- Number of truckloads for this year.
- Mileage per truckload this year.
- Share of feed cost this year (if splitting loads).
- Number of truckloads you normally haul.
- Normal mileage per truckload.
- Share of normal feed cost
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