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It’s hard to believe that August is half over and school will be back in session very soon. We have been fortunate with all the moisture we have received in July and August. Below you will find the latest updates from the Nodaway and Atchison County FSA Office’s.
Ryan Messner, CED
Nodaway County Soil & Water Conservation District has a new lottery process for terrace funding for projects to be completed in calendar year 2024. This offers a fair and efficient way for the office to distribute cost share funds to landowners. Lottery drawing entries will be accepted the second full week of September, annually, which sets this year’s dates from September 11-September 15. The State of Missouri is able to spend $50 million dollars on conservation practices through the state cost share program, which is funded through the one-tenth-of-one-percent Parks, Soils and Water Sales Tax. Over the past four years Nodaway County has been able to provide an average of $1.4 million dollars to landowners for practices including terraces, ponds, cover crops and seedings. For full details stop by or contact our office at the following number.
Office Phone: 660-582-7423 Ext. 3 / District Cell: 660-254-7423
Details follow for the updated Terrance lottery process:
- Terrace layouts will NO LONGER be accepted the first working day in January.
- A lottery drawing will be utilized to identify the order that funds will be distributed to landowners.
- The sign up period will be held the second full week of September, annually.
- Drawing will be held the week following the sign up period during a closed session board meeting.
- Landowner names can be entered into the drawing by any individual.
- Names will be accepted via stopping by, calling, emailing or texting the office.
- Individuals will indicate the intention to complete a Summer or Fall project at sign up.
- Funds will be distributed to Summer projects first, in the order drawn.
- A set number of Summer projects will be drawn each year, at the discretion of the Board.
- Once the set number of Summer projects has been reached in the drawing, names in the Summer drawing will automatically be placed in the Fall drawing.
- If a landowner is drawn for a Summer project and does not plant a crop that facilitates a Summer project, leaves it fallow, etc., then they will be removed from the list for that year and must re-enter their name in the drawing the following year, if desired.
- Landowners not interested in completing their job during the fiscal year they were drawn in will need to re-enter their name in the next drawing in the time period they want to complete a job again.
- All names entered into the Fall drawing will be pulled and recorded no matter how many have been entered.
- Names that do not receive funding and are outside of the estimated number the office can fund will NOT be kept for the next year. Landowners that did not receive funding must re-enter their name in the drawing the following year if there is still interest in a cost share project.
- The “three year rule” in which cost share funds can only be received after every third fiscal year following the year cost share funds were received will still be in place.
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The office will notify landowners if they are within the estimated number the office can fund for the year. If a landowner is within this range, layouts MUST be turned in BEFORE December 15th, annually. If layouts are not turned in by December 15th, then they will be removed from the list for that year and must re-enter their name in the drawing the following year, if desired.
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Terrace layouts with complete survey notes are still completed by the contractor. If a landowner planning to do their own work needs assistance, the office can assist in starting the layout. Landowners must notify the office that assistance is needed before the December 15th date.
- Individuals are highly encouraged to discuss their interest in cost share projects with their contractors prior to the September sign up. The office will not manage the workload for contractors. If funding is provided to the landowner, the project is expected to be completed within that fiscal year. Contractor lists are available in the office.
- Once the list for the year has been identified, landowners will be required to come into the office to identify the farm(s) and tract(s) they have interest in doing their project on. Site eligibility will be checked at this time.
- Funds for Summer projects will begin to be provided roughly mid-July each year.
- Top Soiling for all footage of terrace is paid on, if practice was done
- Maximum cost share is $50,000
Why is the office moving to a lottery system?
- A lottery system is already a proven and effective method utilized in our county for ponds. This offers a fair and efficient way for the office to distribute cost share funds to landowners.
- Landowners will know before planting wheat, oats, needing to leave ground fallow, etc. if they have been approved for a Summer project.
- With funds being provided based upon the order drawn, landowners know where they are on the list and their potential to receive cost share funds as soon as the drawing is complete in September and allow them to plan accordingly.
- By having the ability to better manage the number of layouts to a realistic workload for the office, rather than leaving it open-ended, the office becomes more efficient and effective when disbursing cost share funding.
- Less of a rush/stress for landowners to harvest crops early to acquire funds.
Both Nodaway & Atchison Counties were approved for emergency release of CRP for haying & grazing. The buyback fee has been waived under emergency designations. If you are still wanting to hay or graze CRP acres, please contact the office to complete the paperwork. August 31st is the deadline to complete the haying (extensions are not authorized), acres hayed must be reported by September 10th. If you are done haying, please stop by & certify the acres hayed on a map. Bales must be removed within two weeks after haying has occurred. Grazing deadline is September 30th.
Below are some of the main points for emergency release.
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Haying: is approved from July 16 to August 31 *Bales must be removed from CRP within 15 days *Actual acres hayed must be reported as soon as haying is complete. *Minimum stubble heights are listed below:
- Cool season grass – 3 inches
- Warm season grass - 6 inches
- Eastern Gamagrass – 8 inches
- *Only one cutting of hay is allowed. *Hay harvested from CRP acres can be sold.
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Grazing: is approved from July 16 to September 30. *Livestock must be removed prior to October 1. *Actual acres grazed must be reported by October 10. *Graze no closer than the stubble heights listed below: *Cool season grass – 5 inches *Warm season grass - 9 inches *Acreage may be rented for grazing.
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Additional Points: *Cannot hay/graze within 20’ of stream or permanent waterbody. *The same acreage cannot be hayed and grazed. *If the cover is damaged or destroyed it must be re-established at your own expense. *Annual payments will not be made until acres hayed/grazed are reported *Acreage hayed/grazed will count against your eligibility for non-emergency haying/grazing going forward. Any acreage hayed will not be eligible to be released for non-emergency haying again until 2026. Any acreage grazed will not be eligible to be released for non-emergency grazing again until 2025.
Maintenance: Contract holders can begin rotary mowing and/or spraying CRP to control brush, weeds, & the invasive weed Sericea Lespedeza.
Some contract holders will need to complete required maintenance activities. For most contracts maintenance activities needs completed in years 3-6.
Maintenance Activities include : spraying, disking, & burning. Please review your Conservation Plan for specific dates.
If you have a contract expiring in 2024 or 2025 and if your plans are to get that acreage back into CRP, you will want to ensure that the acreage is in farmable condition. Land full of trees & brush will not be eligible to be re-offered. FSA has partnered with NRCS to make field visits to all expiring contracts to ensure compliance and grass species.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a new online tool to help farmers and ranchers better navigate the farm loan application process. This uniform application process will help to ensure all farm loan applicants receive equal support and have a consistent customer experience with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) regardless of their individual circumstances.
USDA experiences a high rate of incomplete or withdrawn applications, particularly among underserved customers, due in part to a challenging and lengthy paper-based application process. The Loan Assistance Tool is available 24/7 and gives customers an online step-by-step guide that supplements the support they receive when working in person with a USDA employee, providing materials that may help an applicant prepare their loan application in one tool.
Farmers can access the Loan Assistance Tool by visiting farmers.gov/farm-loan-assistance-tool and clicking the ‘Get Started’ button. From here they can follow the prompts to complete the Eligibility Self-Assessment and start the farm loan journey. The tool is built to run on any modern browser like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or the Safari browser, and is fully functional on mobile devices. It does not work in Internet Explorer.
The Loan Assistance Tool is the first of multiple farm loan process improvements that will be available to USDA customers on farmers.gov in the future. Other improvements and tools that are anticipated to launch in 2023 include:
- A streamlined and simplified direct loan application, reduced from 29 pages to 13 pages.
- An interactive online direct loan application that gives customers a paperless and electronic signature option, along with the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns.
- An online direct loan repayment feature that relieves borrowers from the necessity of calling, mailing, or visiting a local Service Center to pay a loan installment.
Background
USDA provides access to credit to approximately 115,000 producers who cannot obtain sufficient commercial credit through direct and guaranteed farm loans. With the funds and direction Congress provided in Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act, USDA is taking action to immediately provide relief to qualifying distressed borrowers whose operations are at financial risk while working on making transformational changes to loan servicing so that borrowers are provided the flexibility and opportunities needed to address the inherent risks and unpredictability associated with agricultural operations.
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