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Greetings,
Everyone here at the Defiance County FSA office hopes you have been enjoying the sunshine and warm temperatures that have been hanging around. We are sure Mother Nature isn't quite ready to give up all the "wintery" weather quite yet but these past few days have been super enjoyable!
With the warmer weather and the sunshine we are all starting to think about the planting season that will be upon us before we know it. We wish you all success in a great planting season and send wishes for a safe planting season as well. As you may recall, once planting is completed you will need to contact our office to set up an appointment for acreage reporting. We have quite a bit of time before the July 15 deadline but just please keep this task in mind.
~Amy Morman, County Executive Director
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) welcomes school gardens, community gardens, urban farms, and small-scale agriculture projects in rural, suburban and urban areas to be recognized as a “People’s Garden.” People’s Gardens grow fresh, healthy food and support resilient, local food systems; teach people how to garden using conservation practices; nurture habitat for pollinators and wildlife and create greenspace for neighbors.
To be part of the initiatives, gardens should be registered on the USDA website and meet criteria including benefitting the community, working collaboratively, incorporating conservation practices and educating the public. Affiliate People’s Garden locations will be indicated on a map on the USDA website, featured in USDA communications, and provided with a People’s Garden sign. New gardens will join the People’s Garden at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. and 17 other flagship gardens established in 2022.
USDA originally launched the People’s Garden Initiative in 2009. It’s named for the “People’s Department,” former President Abraham Lincoln’s nickname for USDA, which was established during his presidency in 1862.
To learn more about People’s Garden or to register one, visit the People’s Garden webpage at usda.gov/Peoples-Garden.
The People’s Garden Initiative is part of USDA’s broader efforts to advance equity, support local and regional food systems and access to food, and encourage use of conservation and climate-smart practices
.The 3-member Defiance County Farm Service Agency committee meets at least one time per quarter and uses the Defiance County OSU Extension conference room as its meeting place. The next meeting for the Defiance County Farm Service Agency County Committee will be held on April 25, 2023 at 9:00am.
We will post a notice on the county office bulletin board if the committee must reschedule the time or place of its next meeting.
County committee members include. Chairman Russell Zeedyk, representing Defiance, Delaware, Noble and Washington townships; Mary Alice Nagel, representing Adams, Highland, Richland, and Tiffin townships; and Gary Vollmer, representing Farmer, Hicksville, Mark and Milford townships.
If you have questions please contact Amy Morman at amy.morman@usda.gov. If you would need to request an accommodation, please contact Amy Morman at 419-789-4259 or amy.morman@usda.gov by April 20, 2023 to request accommodations (e.g., an interpreter, translator, seating arrangements, etc.) or materials in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape – captioning, etc.).
Our office would like to remind our conservation participants, that once you have successfully completed your CRP practice and gathered all bills, receipts, and seed tags to submit these to FSA for cost share reimbursement. Make sure there is an itemized bill for all components listed on your CRP Conservation Plan. If any of the work was done by yourself, include a bill for work completed, time to complete, and cost.
Participants are advised that starting or installing a practice before approval of the CRP contract is at your own risk. Cost share may be ineligible if the offer is not accepted or if the practice does not meet specifications in the approved Conservation Plan.
Please be advised that this is a cost share payment program. As a participant, you are willing to share in the expense of improving and conserving natural resources on your land. As such, you may have out of pocket expenses.
For more information or if you have any questions about cost share reimbursements, please call our office.
All Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants with grass practices or wetland practices are contractually required to complete Mid Contract Management (MCM) halfway through the life of their CRP contracts. Over time, grassland habitats may deteriorate or become susceptible to invasive species. Improvements to the CRP practice cover can be done through MCM to benefit wildlife, ensure plant diversity, and protect soil and water quality.
As the contract approaches its fourth or seventh year, depending on contract length, Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS), Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and Pheasants Forever (PF), will work with you to come up with a recommendation to boost CRP cover benefits. These recommendations may include light disking, controlled burning, interseeding, or installing a minimal amount of wildflower or milkweed plants.
Once an activity for MCM is selected, FSA will discuss the timeline to complete activities and possible cost share. Failure to perform planned MCM activities can result in contract violation. CRP grass waterways and tree practices are exempt from MCM.
The DefianceCounty FSA office will contact the contract holder(s) if your CRP contract is due for MCM this year. Please contact the office for more information about CRP MCM activities. If you have any questions on Mid Contract Management activities please contact the office immediately.
Maps are now available at the Defiance County FSA Office for acreage reporting purposes. If you wish to receive your maps by e-mail or regular mail, please call our office or email Melissa Aschemeier at melissa.aschemeier@usda.gov. If you would like to pick your maps up prior to your appointment you can stop by the office Monday – Friday 8am – 4:30pm.
Please note that all Spring seeded crops are to be reported before close of business on July 15, 2023. In order to maintain program eligibility and benefits, producers must timely file acreage reports. Failure to file an acreage report by the crop acreage reporting deadline may result in 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. Don’t forget, when filing your acreage reports you will need to list planting dates for each field.
Producers that have a farm loan with FSA are reminded they must provide data for their Year-End Analysis (YEA) to their loan officer each year. Borrowers are urged to provide this information timely so that their files can be maintained. The office will contact you for the data you will need to provide us.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts hundreds of surveys every year and prepares reports covering virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture.
If you receive a survey questionnaire, please respond quickly and online if possible.
The results of the surveys help determine the structure of USDA farm programs, such as soil rental rates for the Conservation Reserve Program and prices and yields used for the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs. This county-level data is critical for USDA farm payment determinations. Survey responses also help associations, businesses and policymakers advocate for their industry and help educate others on the importance of agriculture.
NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.
NASS data is available online at nass.usda.gov/Publications and through the searchable Quick Stats database. Watch a video on how NASS data is used at youtube.com/watch?v=m-4zjnh26io&feature=youtu.be.
May 29 --- Memorial Day Holiday. FSA Offices Closed.
May 31 --- Deadline to apply for 2022 commodity loans and LDP's on feed grains, soybeans, pulse crops.
June 2 ---- Deadline to apply for USDA's Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase Two.
June 2 ---- Deadline to apply for USDA's Pandemic Assistance Relief Program (PARP).
June 15 -- County Committee Nomination Period begins.
June 20 -- Juneteenth National Independence Day. USDA Service Center Closed.
July 4 ----- Independence Day Holiday. USDA Service Center Closed.
July 15 --- End of primary nesting season for CRP program purposes.
July 15 ---- Final certification date to report burley tobacco; cabbage planted through May 31; corn, grain sorghum, hybrid corn seed, spring oats, potatoes, popcorn, sugar beets, tomatoes and other crops. Report perennial forage crops. Report Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage.
July 15 ---- Final Date to Report Production for the preceding Crop Year for Farms Enrolled in ARC-IC.
July 31 --- Deadline for producers to submit an offer for re-enrolled land or combination new and re-enrolled land for Continuous CRP Signup 59.
August 1 -- Last day to file County Committee Nomination forms.
August 1 -- Deadline to Request farm reconstitutions and transfers for 2023.
August 15 - Deadline for producers to request enrollment into Transition Incentives Program (TIP).
Ongoing
- Reports of Failed Acreage must be filed with the County Office before disposition of the crop.
- Reports of Prevented Planting Acreage must be filed with the County Office no later than 15 calendar days after the final planting date for that county and producers of hand-harvested crops and certain perishable crops must notify FSA within 72 hours of when a loss becomes apparent.
- Contact FSA right away for notice of loss deadlines and disaster program requirements.
- New applications for Farm Service Agency Loan Programs.
- Inform the office of bank account changes.
- Inform the office if you have picked up or dropped any farm(s).
- Inform the office of farm and cropland boundary changes.
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