The CCC-860 form is used by FSA customers to certify any of the following apply:

1) either as an individual, or as a member of an entity or joint operation, the producer is part of a socially disadvantaged group

2) qualifies as a limited resource producer

3) qualifies as a beginning farmer or rancher or

4) is a veteran farmer or rancher.

Members of a socially disadvantaged group include women, American Indians or Alaskan Natives, Asians, Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Hawaiians or Hispanics. 

Certification on the CCC-860 grants the producer basic coverage for the Non-Insured Assistance Program (NAP). In addition, producers who certified their status on a CCC-860 for the 2020 program year, are eligible to receive an additional 15% CFAP-2 payment. Producers who have not previously certified to their status for the 2020 program year, may submit a CCC-860 to be eligible for the additional payment. The deadline to submit a CCC-860 for CFAP-2 purposes is February 10, 2023. For all other purposes, producers may file, if applicable, the CCC-860 form at any time.

The Barton County Farm Service Agency, 926 Patton Rd, Great Bend, KS is hiring a permanent full-time Program Technician (PT). The deadline to apply is February 22, 2023.

Duties include general office activities supporting FSA programs administered at the field level. Successful applicants must be attentive to detail, reliable, have a professional attitude and enjoy working with the public. Benefits include health insurance, annual and sick leave.  Must be a US citizen. High school graduate or GED.

See full vacancy announcement at: https://www.USAJOBS.gov.  Applications must be completed through USAJOBS no later than close of business February 22, 2023. 

Contact Amanda Staub, County Executive Director, at 620-792-5329 if you have specific questions regarding the position.

USDA is an Equal Opportunity Provider, Employer, and Lender.

To be eligible for Phase Two, producers must have suffered a decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020 or 2021 due to necessary expenses related to losses of eligible crops from a qualifying natural disaster event.

ERP Phase 2 applicants will use the following tax years when selecting allowable gross revenue:  

• Benchmark years: 2018 and/or 2019; estimated for new producers with no 2018 or 2019 revenue or adjusted if the benchmark years are not representative of the disaster year due to a change in operation size.
• Disaster years: 2020 and/or 2021. The allowable gross revenue for the specific disaster year will be based on the tax year applicable to that revenue (2020, 2021 or 2022).

The ERP Phase 2 and PARP application period is open from January 23 through June 2, 2023.

There is an ERP Tool to assist producers in calculating allowable gross revenue and adjusted gross revenue if applicable.

How to apply, payment calculations, payment limitations and the ERP Tool are all found on the ERP Phase 2 information page on farmers.gov. Please reference the ERP Phase 2 fact sheet as you determine your allowable gross revenue.

The Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP) will assist eligible producers of agricultural commodities who experienced revenue decreases in calendar year 2020 compared to 2018 or 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For PARP, eligible agricultural commodities include crops, aquaculture, livestock, livestock byproducts, or other animals or animal byproducts that are produced as part of a farming operation and are intended to be commercially marketed.

PARP payments will be made on a whole-farm basis, not commodity-by-commodity. To be eligible for PARP, an agricultural producer must have been in the business of farming during at least part of the 2020 calendar year and must have experienced a 15 percent decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020, as compared to either:

• The 2018 or 2019 calendar year, as elected by the producer, if they received allowable gross revenue during the 2018 or 2019 calendar years, or
• The producer’s expected 2020 calendar year allowable gross revenue, if the producer had no allowable gross revenue in 2018 or 2019.

PARP payments will be issued after the application period ends on June 2, 2023.

For more information on determining allowable gross revenue visit farmers.gov/coronavirus/pandemic-assistance/parp or review the PARP fact sheet.

To apply or if you have questions, please contact the Barton County FSA Office at 620-792-5329 ext. 2.

If you’ve suffered severe damage, including fence loss, due to the October 23rd Fire in Barton County, you may be eligible for assistance under the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) administered by the Barton County FSA.

Signup began January 9 and will continue through March 1, 2023.

To be eligible for assistance, practices must not be started until all the following are met.

• an application for cost-share assistance has been filed
• the local FSA County Committee (COC) or its representative has conducted an onsite inspection of the damaged area
• the Agency responsible for technical assistance, such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), has made a needs determination, which may include cubic yards of earthmoving, etc., required for rehabilitation.

For more information about ECP, contact the Barton County USDA Service Center at 620-792-5329 or visit fsa.usda.gov.

FSA guaranteed loans allow lenders to provide agricultural credit to farmers who do not meet the lender's normal underwriting criteria. Farmers and ranchers apply for a guaranteed loan through a lender, and the lender arranges for the guarantee. FSA can guarantee up to 95 percent of the loss of principal and interest on a loan. Guaranteed loans can be used for both farm ownership and operating purposes.

Guaranteed farm ownership loans can be used to purchase farmland, construct or repair buildings, develop farmland to promote soil and water conservation or to refinance debt.

Guaranteed operating loans can be used to purchase livestock, farm equipment, feed, seed, fuel, farm chemicals, insurance and other operating expenses.

FSA can guarantee farm ownership and operating loans up to $2,037,000. Repayment terms vary depending on the type of loan, collateral and the producer's ability to repay the loan. Operating loans are normally repaid within seven years and farm ownership loans are not to exceed 40 years.

For more information on guaranteed loans, contact the Barton County or Russell County FSA Offices.