Progress is moving along as I see many crops disappearing from the field and the soil being turned over.  While I believe that we all would like some much-needed moisture, I think the consensus would be a few more weeks to put the final touches to harvest plans.  Nonetheless, we have been blessed with a pretty good season with few hiccups in the weather department. 

While our producers have been busy in the field, our staff has been busy in the office rolling programs over into the next fiscal year, preparing for the upcoming commodity loan season, and issuing payments to producers.  Please take a moment to review some program highlights that could be of interest to you. 

COC Elections
It's COC election time, and ballots will soon be mailed out to Local Administrative Areas 3 (LAA #3) which includes the townships of Green Lake, Harrison, Kandiyohi, Gennessee, Fahlun, Lake Elizabeth, Lake Lillian, and East Lake Lillian. 

This year’s nominee is Cheryl (Kalkbrenner) Hoffenkamp.  Cheryl was raised on a dairy farm east of Spicer and graduated from Atwater High School in 1977.  Cheryl lives north of Atwater with her husband Dave and together have been farming for 45 years.  She has 2 daughters and a son who also farms along with them.  Together, they run 2400 acres with crops that consist of corn, soybeans, sweet corn, and peas.  Cheryl has served as the minority advisor for our County Committee for a number of years and also serves on the CCW at St. Patrick’s church.  Cheryl enjoys gardening, baking, and spending time with her 6 grandchildren. 

Annual Program Payments Issued 
Since the first week of October, we have been issuing annual rental payments for CRP and have released the majority of those payments that should be flowing into bank accounts.   

Agricultural Risk Coverage County Option (ARC) and/or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments did not trigger for the 2021 crop year, so unfortunately, no payments were issued.

2023 DMC Election
To our local dairy producers, the annual registration for the Dairy Margin Coverage Program (DMC) for 2023 began on October 17^th and runs until December 9th. Mark your calendars to stop in and sign up for the 2023 season and feel free to call the office at 320-235-3540 Ext 2 if you have any questions.   

Fall Acreage Reporting
A reminder that If you plant small grains this fall intended to be used for grain, remember to report those acres to the FSA office by the fall reporting deadline of November 15th. This includes insured and uninsured acreage. All cropland needs to be timely reported to FSA to be eligible for many USDA programs. Reports filed after November 15th will be charged a late-filed fee.

FSA Offices Across the State Are Hiring Student Trainees
FSA will be accepting applications for Student Trainees at many locations across the state. The position will be for the summer of 2023. The applicant must be a student currently attending and in pursuit of a 2 or 4-year degree. The locations in Minnesota are as follows: Albert Lea, Alexandria, Buffalo, Cambridge, Clarkfield, Detroit Lakes, Farmington, Fergus Falls, Foley, Little Falls, Marshall, Mora, Preston, Redwood Falls, Rochester, St Paul, Thief River Falls, Waite Park, and Worthington. You can find more information about applying by visiting each job posting: USAJOBS - 683612500, USAJOBS - 683616600, and USAJOBS - 683706600.

~Scott Newberg

The following acreage reporting deadlines are relevant for Kandiyohi County:

November 15 – Fall-seeded crops (Rye, winter wheat, etc.) 

In order to maintain program eligibility and benefits, you must file timely acreage reports. Failure to file an acreage report by the crop acreage reporting deadline may cause ineligibility for future program benefits. FSA will not accept acreage reports provided more than a year after the acreage reporting deadline.

Producers are encouraged to file their acreage reports as soon as planting is completed.

For more information, contact the Kandiyohi County USDA Service Center at 320-235-3540 Ext 2.

The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) program provides low-interest financing to help you build or upgrade storage facilities and to purchase portable (new or used) structures, equipment and storage and handling trucks.

Eligible commodities include corn, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, oats, peanuts, wheat, barley, minor oilseeds harvested as whole grain, pulse crops (lentils, chickpeas, and dry peas), hay, honey, renewable biomass, fruits, nuts and vegetables for cold storage facilities, floriculture, hops, maple sap, rye, milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, meat, and poultry (unprocessed), eggs, and aquaculture (excluding systems that maintain live animals through uptake and discharge of water). Qualified facilities include grain bins, hay barns and cold storage facilities for eligible commodities.  

Loans up to $100,000 can be secured by a promissory note/security agreement and loans exceeding $100,000 require additional security.

You do not need to demonstrate the lack of commercial credit availability to apply. The loans are designed to assist a diverse range of farming operations, including small and mid-sized businesses, new farmers, operations supplying local food and farmers markets, non-traditional farm products, and underserved producers.

For more information, contact your Kandiyohi County USDA Service Center at 320-235-3540 or visit fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport.

Deadlines
Oct 31 - Deadline for Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) and for Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program (OTECP)
Nov 11 - Office Closed to Observe Veterans Day
Nov 15 - Deadline for reporting fall seeded acreage
Nov 20 - Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program closing deadline for apples, blueberries, cane berries, grapes, and sage for crop year 2023
Nov 24 - Office Closed to Observe Thanksgiving Day
Dec 9 - 2023 Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Annual Registration and Coverage Election Period 
Ongoing - Continuous CRP signup
Ongoing - ARCPLC signup

Text Alerts
Available from FSA while on-the-go, in the field, or on the tractor. Subscribe to text message alerts to receive timely updates on: Deadline reminders, program notifications, reporting requirements and local outreach events. To sign up type: 372-669 in the recipient box and in the message box type: MNKandiyohi

Please reach out to our office at 320-235-3540 with any questions you have!