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Good morning, Carroll County Producers!
We hope everyone had a safe harvest and are gearing up for the cold weather! Here are your monthly reminders and other information you might need to know.
2023 ARC/PLC SIGNUP
Signup for 2023 ARC/PLC is underway! The deadline to signup is March 15, 2023 but getting signed up early is always encouraged. Even if you signup now, you can still change your election up until the program deadline. You will be getting a letter in the mail in the coming weeks showing what your current elections are. If you wish to keep the same elections and enrolled in a multiyear contract, no further action is necessary. Please just let our office know you wish keep everything the same.
HELC/WC COMPLIANCE
If you are planning to do any land updates such as tree clearing, drainage, etc. please make sure you have checked with our office first. Before any land improvements can take place, we must verify there is no Wetland or Highly Erodible Soil present on the farm. Not checking with our office could result in a violation and repayment of previous program payments and forfeiture of future program payments.
CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM
If you recently enrolled acreage in CRP, please remember that you have 1 year to get the practice established. Once the practice has been established, you will need to supply our office with any receipts and sign a FSA-848B. If you have any questions, please contact the Farm Service Agency or NRCS.
FARM CHANGES
Please let us know if there have been any changes regarding your farm operation! These changes could be anything from acquiring/selling land, lease changes, or a change in your legal entity membership. Contacting us as early as possible will help us save you time when you come in for routine business throughout the year!
FALL PLANTED CROPS
As a reminder the deadline to certify all fall planted crops is December 15, 2022. This includes winter wheat. Please contact our office once your fall planting is complete.
Thank you for reading and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Fallon Henderson
Carroll County FSA/NRCS/SWCD
The 2022 Farm Service Agency County Committee Elections will begin on November 7, 2022, when ballots are mailed to eligible voters. The deadline to return ballots to local FSA offices, or to be postmarked, is December 5, 2022.
County committee members are an important component of the operations of FSA and provide a link between the agricultural community and USDA. Farmers elected to county committees help deliver FSA programs at the local level, applying their knowledge and judgment to make decisions on commodity price support programs; conservation programs; incentive indemnity and disaster programs for some commodities; emergency programs and eligibility. FSA committees operate within official regulations designed to carry out federal laws.
To be an eligible voter, farmers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program. A person who is not of legal voting age but supervises and conducts the farming operations of an entire farm, may also be eligible to vote. A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming operation(s) but may not have applied or received FSA program benefits.
Eligible voters in local administrative area #2, who do not receive a ballot can obtain one from their local USDA Service Center.
Newly elected committee members will take office January 1, 2023.
The candidates in this year’s election are:
Phillip Burkle is nominated in LAA 2, Carroll County, to serve as a committee member for a 3-year term. Burkle resides in Rossville and has produced crops and livestock in Carroll County for many years.
More information on county committees, such as the new 2022 fact sheet, can be found on the FSA website at fsa.usda.gov/elections or at a local USDA Service Center.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is updating its farm loan programs to better support current borrowers, including historically underserved producers. These improvements are part of USDA’s commitment to increase equity in all programs, including farm loans that provide important access to capital for covering operating expenses and purchasing land and equipment.
The 2018 Farm Bill authorized FSA to provide equitable relief to certain direct loan borrowers, who are non-compliant with program requirements due to good faith reliance on a material action of, advice of, or non-action from an FSA official. Previously, borrowers may have been required to immediately repay the loan or convert it to a non-program loan with higher interest rates, less favorable terms, and limited loan servicing.
Now, FSA has additional flexibilities to assist borrowers in such situations. If the agency provided incorrect guidance to an existing direct loan borrower, the agency may provide equitable relief to that borrower. FSA may assist the borrower by allowing the borrower to keep their loans at current rates or other terms received in association with the loan which was determined to be noncompliant or the borrower may receive other equitable relief for the loan as the Agency determines to be appropriate.
USDA encourages producers to reach out to their local loan officials to ensure they fully understand the wide range of loan and servicing options available that can assist them in starting, expanding or maintaining their operation.
Additional Updates
Equitable relief is one of several changes authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill that USDA has made to the direct and guaranteed loan programs. Other changes that were previously implemented include:
- Modifying the existing three-year farming experience requirement for Direct Farm Ownership loans to include additional items as acceptable experience.
- Allowing socially disadvantaged and beginning farmer applicants to receive a guarantee equal to 95%, rather than the otherwise applicable 90% guarantee.
- Expanding the definition of and providing additional benefits to veteran farmers.
- Allowing borrowers who received restructuring with a write down to maintain eligibility for an Emergency loan.
- Expanding the scope of eligible issues and persons covered under the agricultural Certified Mediation Program.
Additional information on these changes is available in the March 8, 2022 rule on the Federal Register.
More Background
FSA has taken other recent steps to increase equity in its programs. Last summer, USDA announced it was providing $67 million in competitive loans through its new Heirs’ Property Relending Program to help agricultural producers and landowners resolve heirs’ land ownership and succession issues. FSA also invested $4.7 million to establish partnerships with organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to historically underserved farmers and ranchers, which contributed to a fourfold increase in participation by historically underserved producers in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2), a key pandemic assistance program, since April 2021.
Additionally, in January 2021, Secretary Vilsack announced a temporary suspension of past-due debt collection and foreclosures for distressed direct loan borrowers due to the economic hardship imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Producers can explore available loan options using the Farm Loan Discovery Tool on farmers.gov (also available in Spanish) or by contacting their local USDA Service Center. Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email, and other digital tools. Due to the pandemic, some USDA Service Centers are open to limited visitors. Producers can contact their local Service Center to set up an in-person or phone appointment to discuss loan options.
For more information about FSA Loan programs, contact your Jasper County USDA Service Center at 219-866-8554 ext. 10 or visit fsa.usda.gov.
Indiana’s agricultural producers who want to improve natural resources and address concerns on their land are encouraged to sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Dan Hovland, Acting NRCS State Conservationist for Indiana, announced that December 16 will be the EQIP application ranking date in Indiana.
EQIP is a voluntary conservation program available for agricultural producers and private, non-industrial forestland owners. Through EQIP, NRCS provides financial and technical assistance to install conservation practices that reduce soil erosion and sedimentation, improve soil health, improve water and air quality and create wildlife habitat. Funds are available for cropland, pasture and grazing land, confined livestock operations, urban & organic producers, forested land, and other targeted areas.
Also included in this sign up are several state and national initiatives. While these initiatives use EQIP funding, landowners that apply for one of the special funding pools will not compete against the general EQIP funding pool. “These targeted projects allow us to address specific natural resource concerns and provide a less competitive option for producers who work in areas.
Initiatives available in Carroll County include,
- Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI):. Available locally in the
- Middle Wabash Deer Watershed (Carroll, Cass, Howard, Miami and Tippecanoe counties)
- Working Lands for Wildlife Initiative – Monarch Butterfly: focused on increasing monarch habitat on private lands
- Working Lands for Wildlife Initiative – Bobwhite Quail: convert non-native forages to native grasses and forbs. This category is available statewide on land which overlaps one of the Indiana DNR C.O.R.R.I.D.O.R.S. priority areas.
- General Wildlife: primary purpose is to establish or manage wildlife habitat.
- National On-Farm Energy Initiative: Conservation Activity Plans-Ag Energy Management Plans (AgEMPs) and certain energy conservation practices, to quantify how energy can be used more efficiently.
- National Organic Initiative: NRCS provides assistance to help producers implement conservation measures in keeping with organic production.
- Historically Underserved Farmers: This fund category is for applicants defined as socially disadvantaged, veteran, limited resource or beginning farmer. View eligibility, please visit nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/in/about/outreach/slbfr/ or talk to your local district conservationist.
Producers interested in EQIP should submit a signed application to the local NRCS field office by the December 16! Participants in EQIP must meet eligibility requirements.
For more information about EQIP and other technical and financial assistance available through Indiana NRCS conservation programs, contact your county’s District Conservationist, Celia Tharp at 765-564-4480 by e-mail at celia.tharp@usda.gov. Or stop by the office!
Visit NRCS.USDA.gov/Indiana/EQIP or
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