NRCS
Greetings from the Fairbury NRCS office. We have been certifying and processing the remainder of the 2021 CSP payments. Conservation Stewardship Program practice reminder letters have gone out and we will be following up with individual meetings this spring. The program is setup on NRCS’s fiscal year which is October 1. All items in contracts need to be completed and paperwork verifying work submitted to NRCS by September 15. The individual CSP meetings are designed to review the game plan for getting CSP stuff done on time and to specification. Participants are responsible for completing many tasks related to their contract and NRCS has the responsibility to provide them technical paperwork for example tree plans, seeding plans, grazing plans etc. Keeping in contact and maintaining communication helps for a smooth annual payment review.
We realize spring is a busy time on the farm with crops and livestock. It is also a time when conservation activities like grass/pollinator seedings, tree plantings, prescribed burning and other practices that can only be done that time of year. Spring is fast approaching, so review your files to see if you have any of those activities to do and check with us for plans, layout, and other technical assistance. CRP signups are going on now so if you need a conservationist to review your existing seedings or help with technical explanations feel free to contact us. There is a new EQIP program CIC conservation incentive program signup now and it has management practices like cover crops, nutrient management, pest management, prescribed grazing etc. It is similar to CSP but is run through the EQIP program and is considered a stepping-stone type program to work towards more complex conservation contracts.
Lastly, I want to remind folks of our most basic service conservation technical assistance. A large share of our time is spent planning and managing contracts which is largely office work. However, conservation technical assistance is what we provide free of charge and usually starts with a field visit to your farm. We would be happy to look at whatever resource concerns you have on the land and offer solutions and possible alternatives to correct or improve on what you have already done. Too much time has been spent indoors and conservation is not in an office it is on the land, so that is where we need to start. Thank you, Jefferson County producers, for your interest in Natural Resource Conservation and your existing efforts to take care of the land which is so obvious.
Dave Bedlan
RC Fairbury NRCS
FSA
*The countdown is on to the Agriculture Risk Coverage/Price Loss Coverage programs enrollment deadline of March 15, 2022. If you have not enrolled your farm(s) for 2022, please call our office now. March 15 is also the deadline for changing your current program election, meaning selecting ARC or PLC, as well as the deadline to have all signatures for your contracts. While making a new election is optional, you must enroll (sign a new contract) for 2022 by the deadline if you want to remain eligible for potential benefits.
Call (402) 729-6134, ext. 2, to begin the ARC/PLC election and enrollment process immediately.
If you are seeking guidance regarding what program to enroll in, you can listen to the recorded Center for Agricultural Profitability’s webinar, titled “Farm Program Details, Decisions and Directions,” for information. Go to fsa.usda.gov/ne and click on the webinar link in the second “spotlights” story.
*Recently USDA announced two Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signups. The General CRP signup started January 31 and runs until March 11, and the Grassland CRP signup will run from April 4 to May 13. Call our office if you are interested in enrolling acres into CRP. Please note you can listen to a CRP webinar and learn more about the program at this link: nebraskapf.com/crp-signup/.
*You may have heard that USDA recently announced a new pandemic assistance program, the Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP). Under this new program, agricultural producers who have coverage under most crop insurance policies are eligible for a premium benefit if they planted cover crops during the 2022 crop year, including those planted last fall for growth this spring. To receive the benefit from this year’s PCCP, producers must report cover crop acreage to FSA by March 15, 2022. A key eligibility point is that participating producers must eventually report an insured crop to their crop insurance agent on the same field as the reported cover crop acreage.
While cover crops need to be reported to us, for more detailed information on this program, producers should visit with their crop insurance provider. They will be the best source of information on this program. You can also read more in the article below.
*I also want to remind producers who filed a Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) notice of loss in 2021 (for livestock deaths due to adverse weather); an application for payment must be filed in order for review and approval/disapproval of requested payment. If you filed a notice of loss, with our office, and have not filed an application for payment, the deadline to provide documentation of losses and file the application for payment is March 1, 2022. Reminder letters were sent out in December to those who filed a 2021 notice of loss but have not filed an application for payment. Contact the office as soon as possible to schedule an appointment to file your application for payment.
We hope your year is off to a great start. Let’s all hope for some moisture – the good kind – over the next month.
Joni Johnson
CED Fairbury FSA
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The Jefferson County Farm Service Agency office is asking producers to complete their election and enrollment process for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2022 production season. Producers are urged to call the county office immediately at (402) 729-6134 to schedule an appointment. 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 program election changes for 2022 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year.
The deadline for 2022 program elections and enrollment is 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 March deadline.
If program elections are not submitted by the deadline, the elections remain the same as the 2021 elections for crops on the farm. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm and makes election changes for 2022 or has a change to producers or shares on the farm, it will be necessary to sign a new contract.
Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.
Producers interested in an ARC/PLC program outlook for 2022 should visit the Nebraska FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov/ne and click on the link to the Center for Agricultural Profitability webinar under the first Spotlights story.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is pleased to announce Robert Lawson as the Nebraska State Conservationist. He began serving in this position on Feb. 13.
Lawson follows Craig Derickson, who served as Nebraska State Conservationist for 10 years. Derickson retired on Dec. 31, 2020, after 35 years of federal service.
Upon Derickson’s retirement, Jeff Vander Wilt, Britt Weiser, John Wilson, and Stacy Riley acted as Nebraska’s State Conservationist over the past 13 months.
Lawson has worked with NRCS for 18 years. He has served in several NRCS field offices in Iowa and Illinois, and in leadership positions with NRCS in Indiana and Wisconsin.
Lawson grew up on a family farm in southeast Iowa. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Service and Administration at Iowa State University.
NRCS provides farmers and ranchers with financial and technical assistance to voluntarily put conservation on the ground, helping improve agricultural operations and the environment. For more information about NRCS and the programs and services it provides, visit www.ne.nrcs.usda.gov.
Agricultural producers who have coverage under most crop insurance policies are eligible for a premium benefit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) if they planted cover crops during the 2022 crop year. To receive the benefit from this year’s Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP), producers must report cover crop acreage to FSA by March 15, 2022.
PCCP, offered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), helps farmers maintain their cover crop systems, despite the financial challenges posed by the pandemic and is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, a bundle of programs to bring financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions.
PCCP provides premium support to producers who insured their crop with most insurance policies and planted a qualifying cover crop during the 2022 crop year. Qualifying cover crops include all that are reportable to FSA, including cereals and other grasses, legumes, brassicas and other non-legume broadleaves, and mixtures of two or more cover crop species planted at the same time. This program does not change the Nebraska FSA normal acreage reporting deadline for spring-seeded crops, but to receive the premium benefit, cover crops must be reported by the March 15 deadline. Producers will need to report cover crop type or variety; number of acres of the cover crop; map with boundaries for the cover crop; planting dates; planting pattern where applicable; producer shares; and irrigation practice.
The premium support is $5 per acre, but no more than the full premium amount owed.
For more information on this program, visit farmers.gov/cover-crops or talk to your crop insurance provider.
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All Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants with contracts from 2004 and beyond must complete at least one management activity during the life of the contract.
Management activities must be completed before the end of year six for 10-year contracts or before the end of year nine for contracts with a 15-year contract length. An approved Conservation Plan of Operation will provide information on when the CRP management activity is scheduled during the life of the CRP contract.
Landowners who are due to conduct a management practice should carefully consider all options and plan ahead. Current dry conditions could prevent the use of prescribed burning, depending on local conditions and directives from fire officials. Landowners considering a prescribed burn as a management practice are required to secure a “burn packet,” consisting of a burn plan and burn permit, from their local FSA office ahead of time. The FSA staff also will provide instructions for grass seeding for the areas being inter-seeded.
Management activities create plant diversity for wildlife as well as enhance permanent cover. In addition to prescribed burn and inter-seeding, landowners can choose from the following other appropriate management practices:
- Tillage and inter-seeding;
- Spraying with inter-seeding;
- Haying with inter-seeding; or
- Prescribed grazing with inter-seeding.
Inter-seeding is optional if the existing CRP cover meets plant diversity requirements. If using the broadcast seeding method, the seeding rate should be doubled.
Management activities must be completed outside the primary nesting season. For Nebraska the primary nesting season is May 1 through July 15.
Based on the choice of practice, your local FSA office will furnish the necessary forms to report completion, cost associated with the activity and request for cost-share assistance. CRP participants must complete and sign the FSA-848B and provide necessary paperwork such as bills and seed receipts to receive cost-share assistance for the management activity. Please note for any CRP contract effective October 2018 or later, cost-share for management activities is not authorized.
Please contact the Jefferson County FSA office to discuss management practices.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is providing Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers financial and technical assistance to plan and implement conservation practices through Conservation Incentive Contracts. Agricultural producers have until March 11, 2022, to apply to be considered for 2022 funding. Contract Incentive Contracts are an option available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) that offers producers financial assistance to adopt conservation management practices on working landscapes. Conservation Incentive Contracts are available nationwide and help producers address priority resource concerns, like sequestering carbon and improving water quality.
Producers may use incentive contracts as a “steppingstone,” from correcting resource issues on specific land units, to achieving sustainable stewardship on their entire operation. Conservation Incentive Contracts:
- Have an initial length of five years.
- Require producers to address at least one priority resource concern during the contract period.
- Offer two types of payments:
- Practice Implementation Payments, which are paid after completion and certification of a conservation practice.
- Management Practice Payments, which include management practices that will serve as annual payments and are paid as soon as practicable after October 1 of each fiscal year.
For more information on Conservation Incentive Contracts, contact NRCS at your local USDA Service Center, or click here for more information.
Farm loan borrowers who have pledged real estate as security for their Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct or guaranteed loans are responsible for maintaining loan collateral. Borrowers must obtain prior consent or approval from FSA or the guaranteed lender for any transaction that affects real estate security. These transactions include, but are not limited to:
- Leases of any kind
- Easements of any kind
- Subordinations
- Partial releases
- Sales
Failure to meet or follow the requirements in the loan agreement, promissory note, and other security instruments could lead to nonmonetary default which could jeopardize your current and future loans.
It is critical that borrowers keep an open line of communication with their FSA loan staff or guaranteed lender when it comes to changes in their operation. For more information on borrower responsibilities, read Your FSA Farm Loan Compass.
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