In This Issue:
As fall weather has arrived throughout the state, I predict that a vast number of farmers are gearing up to hit the fields hard for the 2023 corn/soybean harvest.
As we continue each day of harvest, FSA would like to join the Illinois Farm Bureau campaign as they stress to drivers: START SEEING FARMERS – zero farming accidents this fall. Start seeing farmers signs are being placed throughout the countryside in Illinois. As you see them, use them as a reminder, to be sure and look for farmers while driving country/all roads.
On August 30th we welcomed U.S. Secretary Tom Vilsack to the 2023 Farm Progress Show in Decatur. Secretary Vilsack shared his vision on the future of agriculture. He stated, “We want to put a lot of emphasis on the Farm Bill, and I totally understand why”. “But the reality is… the emphasis needs to be on the vision, and then on all the tools that are available to make that vision happen”.
Secretary Vilsack encouraged farmers to diversify their revenue in wake of a changing industry.
It was great to see so many Farm Progress show attendees welcoming Secretary Vilsack to Illinois.
Fantastic weather prevailed all three days of the show and brought thousands of attendees, including visitors from 46 countries.
I would like to thank Sondra Rumple and her entire Macon County staff for their gracious hospitality before, during and after the 2023 Farm Progress show. The Macon County FSA employees went above and beyond to make themselves available to assist the USDA agencies with providing them with office space for meetings, telephone conferences, printing availability, cold water and restrooms.
On August 31st Ben Curtin, Brenda Hill (members of the FSA State Committee) and I attended a meeting with the National Farmers Union (NFU) President, Rob Larew and Vice President, Jeff Kippley along with two other members of their staff. The group discussed who they are and what they do and asked what they could do to assist FSA. NFU is specifically concerned about FSA staffing, agency funding and the upcoming Farm Bill. I hope to see a new stakeholder partnership for FSA and Illinois Farmers Union in the future.
I would like to take a moment and make everyone aware of the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP).
The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides aid to Livestock producers for deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather, disease and attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law.
For disease losses, FSA county committees can accept veterinarian certifications that livestock deaths were directly related to adverse weather and unpreventable through good animal husbandry and management.
For 2023 livestock losses, you must file a notice within 30 calendar days of when the loss is first apparent. You then must provide the following supporting documentation to your local FSA office no later than 60 calendar days after the end of the calendar year in which the eligible loss condition occurred.
- Proof of death documentation
- Copy of grower’s contracts
- Proof of normal mortality documentation
USDA has established normal mortality rates for each type and weight range of eligible livestock, i.e., Adult Beef Cow = 1.5% and Non-Adult Beef Cattle (less than 250 pounds) = 5%. These established percentages reflect losses that are considered expected or typical under “normal” conditions.
In addition to filing a notice of loss, you must also submit an application for payment by March 1, 2024.
For more information, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
There are also options available for Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan customers during financial stress. If you are a borrower who is unable to make payments on a loan, contact your local FSA Loan Manager/Officer to learn about your options today.
9-11-23 – USDA Announces Milk Loss Assistance for Dairy Operation Impacted by 2020-2021-2022 Disaster Events–Applications end 10-16-23
9-30-23 – Deadline for the Emergency CRP Grazing Period
9-30-23 – Deadline to Finish CRP Emergency Haying and Remove Bales off of CRP Acres
Ongoing – Update Your Records
After nine months of working remotely, the staff members of FSA State Office and myself began moving back into the newly renovated building this month. Frozen pipes and water damage in December has proven to be a bit more than a challenge, however it is near an end, and all is well.
Here we are in mid-September, and I am still wondering how summer went by so quickly. It’s times like these that I recall what a wise man once told me. “Don’t just let time pass you by, son, make the best of each and every day and enjoy your life”. (Thanks Dad)
Please stay safe on and around the farm.
Sincerely,
Scott Halpin
State Executive Director
Illinois Farm Service Agency
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is reminding producers interested in its expanded Margin Protection insurance plan that to be eligible for the 2024 crop year, they will need to purchase their coverage by September 30, 2023. The expansion of the plan, which was first announced in March and is administered by the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), added more than a thousand counties to the insurance option that provides coverage against an unexpected decrease in operating margin for corn and soybean producers. This expansion is in direct response to growing interest among producers.
“It is one of our top priorities to provide strong risk management resources to as many producers as possible, and this expansion of an already effective program does just that,” said Brian Frieden, Director of RMA’s Regional Office in Springfield. “It will provide a viable insurance option for so many more farmers across the country, giving them greater protection possibilities, and it is a great example of how we value the feedback and requests we receive from producers and act on it.”
Margin Protection, first implemented for the 2016 crop year, protects against decreases in margin caused by reduced county yields, reduced commodity prices, increased price of certain inputs or any combination of these issues. It is area-based, using county-level estimates of average revenue and input costs to establish the amount of coverage and indemnity payments.
RMA’s expansion of the Margin Protection plan will add 1,287 counties for soybeans and 1,729 counties for corn. This will add coverage in 22 states for soybeans with 34 states being covered in total. It will also make Margin Protection available for corn in the contiguous United States (see maps). The plan is also available in select counties for rice (Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas) and wheat (Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota).
In the 2022 crop year, there were 1.7 million acres of corn and 1 million acres of soybeans insured under the Margin Protection insurance plan.
Margin Protection can be purchased by itself or in conjunction with a Yield Protection or Revenue Protection policy purchased from the same Approved Insurance Provider that issued the Margin Protection policy. Margin Protection cannot be purchased with the Supplemental Coverage Option, Enhanced Coverage Option, or the Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Endorsement.
More Information
Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at the RMA Agent Locator. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at rma.usda.gov or by contacting your RMA Regional Office.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit usda.gov.
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The Farm Service Agency (FSA) assists beginning farmers to finance agricultural enterprises. Under these designated farm loan programs, FSA can provide financing to eligible applicants through either direct or guaranteed loans. FSA defines a beginning farmer as a person who:
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- Has operated a farm for not more than 10 years
- Will materially and substantially participate in the operation of the farm
- Agrees to participate in a loan assessment, borrower training and financial management program sponsored by FSA
- Does not own a farm in excess of 30 percent of the county’s average size farm.
For more information contact, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
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Producers in Adams, Hancock, Pike, Randolph, and Schuyler Counties are eligible to apply for 2023 Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) benefits on native pasture, improved pasture, forage sorghum.
LFP provides compensation if you suffer grazing losses for covered livestock due to drought on privately owned or cash leased land or fire on federally managed land.
County committees can only accept LFP applications after notification is received by the National Office of qualifying drought or if a federal agency prohibits producers from grazing normal permitted livestock on federally managed lands due to qualifying fire.
You must complete a CCC-853 and the required supporting documentation no later than January 30, 2024, for 2023 losses.
For additional Information about LFP, including eligible livestock and fire criteria, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
FSA is cleaning up our producer record database and needs your help. Please report any changes of address, zip code, phone number, email address or an incorrect name or business name on file to our office. You should also report changes in your farm operation, like the addition of a farm by lease or purchase. You should also report any changes to your operation in which you reorganize to form a Trust, LLC or other legal entity.
FSA and NRCS program participants are required to promptly report changes in their farming operation to the County Committee in writing and to update their Farm Operating Plan on form CCC-902.
To update your records, contact your local County USDA Service Center.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds agricultural producers with perennial forage crops of an option to report their acreage once, without having to report that acreage in subsequent years, as long as there are no applicable changes on the farm. Interested producers can select the continuous certification option after USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) certifies their acreage report.
An acreage report documents a crop grown on a farm or ranch and its intended uses, including perennial crops like mixed forage, birdsfoot trefoil, chicory/radicchio, kochia (prostrata), lespedeza, perennial peanuts and perennial grass varieties. To access many USDA programs, producers must file an accurate and timely acreage report for all crops and land uses, including failed acreage and prevented planting acreage.
The perennial crop continuous certification process requires a producer to initially complete an acreage report certifying the perennial crop acreage. The producer may select the continuous certification option any time after the crop is certified. Once the continuous certification option is selected, the certified acreage will roll forward annually and does not require additional action on the producer’s part in subsequent years unless the acreage report changes.
Once a producer selects continuous certification, then continuous certification is appliable to all fields on the farm for the specific crop, crop type and intended use. If continuous certification is selected by any producers sharing in the crop, then the continuous certification is appliable to fields in which the producer has a share for the specific crop, crop type and intended use.
Producers can opt out of continuous certification at any time. The continuous certification will terminate automatically if a change in the farming operation occurs.
How to File a Report
To file a crop acreage report, producers need to provide:
- Crop and crop type or variety.
- Intended use of the crop.
- Number of acres of the crop.
- Map with approximate boundaries for the crop.
- Planting date(s).
- Planting pattern, when applicable.
- Producer shares.
- Irrigation practice(s).
- Acreage prevented from planting, when applicable.
- Other information as required.
More Information
Producers can contact their local FSA office to see if their crops are eligible for continuous certification or to make an appointment. Producers can make an appointment to report acres by contacting their local USDA Service Center.
Bins are ideally designed to hold a level volume of grain. When bins are overfilled and grain is heaped up, airflow is hindered, and the chance of spoilage increases.
Producers who take out marketing assistance loans and use the farm-stored grain as collateral should remember that they are responsible for maintaining the quality of the grain through the term of the loan.
If you’ve suffered above normal expenses for hauling feed or water to livestock or hauling livestock to forage/grazing acres due to the impacts of drought, you may be eligible for financial assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP). The following Illinois counties have reached the D3 designation: Adams, Hancock, Pike, Randolph, and Schuyler, Stephenson, and Winnebago. The Illinois counties that have reached the D2 designation: Boone, Fulton, Mason, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, and Tazewell.
For eligible producers in qualifying counties, ELAP provides financial assistance for:
- the transportation of water to livestock;
- the above normal cost of mileage for transporting feed to livestock,
- the above normal cost of transporting livestock to forage/grazing acres.*
*Hauling livestock one-way, one haul per animal reimbursement and no payment for “empty miles.”
Eligible livestock include cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep, among others, that are maintained for commercial use and located in a county where the qualifying drought conditions occur. A county must have had D2 severe drought intensity on the U.S. Drought Monitor for eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period, or D3 or D4 drought intensity at any time during the normal grazing period. Producers must have risk in both eligible livestock and eligible grazing land in an eligible county to qualify for ELAP assistance.
Water Transportation
For ELAP water transportation assistance, a producer must be transporting water to eligible livestock on eligible grazing land where the producer had adequate livestock watering systems or facilities in place before the drought occurred and where they do not normally require the transportation of water. Payments are for costs associated with personal labor, equipment, hired labor, equipment, and/or contracted water transportation fees. Cost of the water itself is not covered. The ELAP payment formula uses a national average price per gallon.
Above Normal Costs of Transporting Feed
ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who incur above normal expenses for transporting feed to livestock during drought. The payment formula excludes the first 25 miles and any mileage over 1,000 miles. The reimbursement rate is 60% of the costs above what would normally have been incurred during the same time period in a normal (non-drought) year.
Above Normal Costs of Transporting Livestock to Forage/Grazing Acres
ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who are hauling livestock to a new location for feed resources due to insufficient feed and/or grazing in drought-impacted areas. Please contact your county FSA office for additional details.
For calendar year 2022 forward, producers must submit a notice of loss to your local FSA office within 30 calendar days of when the loss is apparent; producers should contact their county FSA office as soon as the loss of water resources or feed resources are known. For ELAP eligibility, documentation of expenses is critical. Producers should maintain records and receipts associated with the costs of transporting water to eligible livestock, the costs of transporting feed to eligible livestock, and the costs of transporting eligible livestock to forage/grazing acres.
ELAP also offers assistance to producers impacted by wildfire. Contact your county FSA office for more information on ELAP resources for wildfire losses. In addition, beekeepers also can benefit from ELAP provisions and should contact their county FSA office within 15 calendar days of when a loss occurs or from when the loss is apparent.
For more information and additional eligibility requirements, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
Disaster Assistance Available for Livestock Losses
The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides assistance to you for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather, disease and attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law.
For disease losses, FSA county committees can accept veterinarian certifications that livestock deaths were directly related to adverse weather and unpreventable through good animal husbandry and management.
For 2023 livestock losses, you must file a notice within 30 calendar days of when the loss is first apparent. You then must provide the following supporting documentation to your local FSA office no later than 60 calendar days after the end of the calendar year in which the eligible loss condition occurred.
- Proof of death documentation
- Copy of grower’s contracts
- Proof of normal mortality documentation
USDA has established normal mortality rates for each type and weight range of eligible livestock, i.e. Adult Beef Cow = 1.5% and Non-Adult Beef Cattle (less than 250 pounds) = 5%. These established percentages reflect losses that are considered expected or typical under “normal” conditions.
In addition to filing a notice of loss, you must also submit an application for payment by March 1, 2024.
For more information, contact the your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
The USDA-RMA is introducing a new Federal Crop Insurance program designed to provide greenhouse growers an opportunity to insure against losses due to destruction orders based on detection of plant disease vectors. USDA is hosting an in-person public session on OCTOBER 12, 2023, in HUDSONVILLE, MICHIGAN to introduce the program and answer any questions you may have. Learn more and see the schedule of the session’s exact time and location. Learn More
In this Ask the Expert, Gwen Uecker answers a few questions about USDA’s farmers.gov customer portal. Gwen serves as the Team Lead for the Program Delivery Division (PDD), Common Processes Branch for the Deputy Administrator of Farm Program within Farm Service Agency (FSA). She helps lead PDD’s effort to provide personalized customer information via farmers.gov.
A farmers.gov account provides self-service opportunities to FSA and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) customers via a secure authenticated access process.
What is the value of Customer Farm Records Mapping and why should producers use farmers.gov?
Customer Farm Records Mapping (cFRM) provides you with self-help options and access to FSA data from home 24/7. For example, you do not have to wait for FSA to mail out maps for acreage reporting or make a special trip to the office to pick up your maps. You can print farm tract maps directly from farmers.gov.
New features include the ability to import precision agriculture planting boundaries and create labels containing crop information that can be printed on-farm tract maps. The maps can then be provided to FSA at the local USDA Service Center for completing the annual crop acreage report. You can use the draw tools to determine acres in a drawn area. The drawn area can be printed on a map and provided to the Service Center, a third party such as a chemical applicator, or exported as a feature file for use in other geospatial applications.
In addition, you can “Switch Profile” to view cFRM data for individuals or entities you are authorized to act on behalf of. This means you can view and print maps for your entity’s farms. Producers can also view and print farm records details, including base and yield information (FSA-156EZ).
The FSA Farm Records Mapping page is accessed by clicking the blue “View Farm Records” button from the farmers.gov LAND tab.
To read the full blog visit Ask the Expert: Customer Farm Records Mapping Q&A with Gwen Uecker | Farmers.gov.
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