March – the month for FSA deadlines. We also might call it our own “March Madness”.
Our offices stand ready to help you navigate the crop and livestock programs that may fit your operation. We want to help you score with FSA as you determine which voluntary programs would work best on your farm.
Our offices are extremely busy right now meeting with producers and talking about the various programs that are available – and the March Madness deadlines that are right around the corner:
- ARC PLC Deadline – March 15, 2024
- Continuous CRP 1st batching period January 12 – March 15, 2024
- General CRP Deadline – March 29, 2024
If you have not already made your appointments or stopped in to make your selection in ARC/PLC, please do so today. Give your local county office a phone call and get this completed for you and your operation.
Also, if you are looking at the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), be mindful that March 15th is the end of the first batching period for Continuous CRP and March 29th is the deadline for enrolling in General CRP.
Please check out the other articles in this newsletter to equip you with great information about FSA’s programs. We look forward to winning with all of you!
Dribble, Shoot, Swish.
In Indiana/Boilermaker Basketball,
|
 State Executive Director
 Agricultural producers and private landowners can submit offers for the General Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). 2024 General CRP Signup dates are March 4 through March 29, 2024.
As one of the largest private lands conservation programs in the United States, CRP offers a range of conservation options to farmers and landowners. It has been an especially strong opportunity for farmers with less productive or marginal cropland, helping them re-establish valuable land cover to help improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and support wildlife habitat.
General CRP
General CRP helps producers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. Additionally, General CRP includes a Climate-Smart Practice Incentive to help increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by helping producers and landowners establish trees and permanent grasses, enhance wildlife habitat, and restore wetlands.
General CRP is one of several ways agricultural producers and private landowners can participate in the program.
Other CRP Options
This past January FSA began accepting applications for the Continuous CRP signup. Under this enrollment, producers and landowners can enroll in CRP throughout the year. Offers are automatically accepted provided the producer and land meet the eligibility requirements and the enrollment levels do not exceed the statutory cap.
The USDA also offers financial assistance to producers and landowners enrolled in CRP to improve the health of their forests through the Forest Management Incentive (FMI), which can help participants with forest management practices, such as brush management and prescribed burning.
FSA will announce the dates for Grassland CRP signup in the near future.
Producers with expiring CRP acres can use the Transition Incentives Program (TIP), which incentivizes producers who sell or enter a long-term lease with a beginning, veteran, or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher who plans to sustainably farm or ranch the land.
How to Sign Up
Landowners and producers interested in CRP should contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more or to apply for the program before their deadlines.
In Indiana the Primary Nesting Season (PNS) for wildlife is April 1st – August 1st. What does this mean for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) program participants?
Maintenance
Once you have established your approved CRP practice, all CRP maintenance such as mowing, burning and spraying must take place outside of the PNS for wildlife.
Should you have a maintenance issue such as weeds, insects or undesirable species that left untreated would adversely impact your approved cover, you can submit a request to your local FSA office for permission to spot treat the affected area.
When spot treatment is determined necessary, the county office will approve the method that results in the least damage to nesting wildlife and habitat. CRP participants must receive approval from the FSA County Committee prior to beginning spot treatment. The spot treatment is limited to the affected area of the field.
Management
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) policy requires participants with certain practices to perform a management activity during the life of the contract. Mid-contract Management (MCM) activities must be completed outside of the Primary Nesting Season.
More Information
Periodic mowing and mowing for cosmetic purposes are prohibited at all times. Annual mowing of CRP acreage for generic week control is also prohibited. Occasional mowing for control of weeds, insects or pests is permissible if included in the Conservation Plan and completed outside of the primary nesting season.
For information specific to your CRP contract, contact your local USDA Service Center to review your Conservation Plan.
Farmers can use USDA farm ownership microloans to buy and improve property. These microloans are especially helpful to beginning or underserved farmers, U.S. veterans looking for a career in farming, and those who have small and mid-sized farming operations.
Microloans have helped farmers and ranchers with operating costs, such as feed, fertilizer, tools, fencing, equipment, and living expenses since 2013.
Microloans can also help with farmland and building purchases and soil and water conservation improvements. FSA designed the expanded program to simplify the application process, expand eligibility requirements and expedite smaller real estate loans to help farmers strengthen their operations. Microloans provide up to $50,000 to qualified producers and can be issued to the applicant directly from FSA.
For more information on FSA farm loan programs, contact your local USDA Service Center, your Regional Farm Loan Office or visit fsa.usda.gov.
|
The programs FSA offers can often be the best news possible for a producer living in that uncertainty. In 2023, investments from our programs made positive impacts on the lives of many agricultural producers, including those experiencing distress or those picking up the pieces after natural disasters — investments that will pay dividends for many years to come.
Our dedicated employees delivered more than $16.9 billion in farm programs and farm loans throughout the year. Some noteworthy accomplishments included helping distressed borrowers, improving our processes and programs, and providing support to our producers in times of hardship. These accomplishments were borne out of our concerted effort to approach our policies and programs with fresh eyes, creative ideas and a common purpose guided by the goal of fairly and equitably delivering the most assistance to the most producers possible.
We’re proud of our work in 2023, and our efforts to support our nation’s farmers.
Read more about FSA’s successes in 2023 by visiting farmers.gov/blog/fsa-investing-in-resilience.
Maintaining Quality of Farm Stored Grain
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.
If you take out marketing assistance loans and use the farm-stored grain as collateral, remember that you are responsible for maintaining the quality of the grain through the term of the loan.
|
Unauthorized Disposition of Grain Results in Financial Penalties
Always call before you haul any grain under loan.
If loan grain has been disposed of through feeding, selling or any other form of disposal without prior written authorization from the county office staff, it is considered unauthorized disposition. The financial penalties for unauthorized dispositions are severe and your name will be placed on a loan violation list for a two-year period.
Contact your local USDA Service Center to request permission to feed, sell or otherwise dispose of grain under loan.
|
The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) requires all foreign owners of U.S. agricultural land to report their holdings to the Secretary of Agriculture. Foreign persons who have purchased or sold agricultural land in the county are required to report the transaction to FSA within 90 days of the closing. Failure to submit the AFIDA form (may need to open the form using Goggle Chrome) could result in civil penalties of up to 25 percent of the fair market value of the property.
County government offices, realtors, attorneys and others involved in real estate transactions are reminded to notify foreign investors of these reporting requirements. The data gained from these disclosures is used in the preparation of periodic reports to the President and Congress concerning the effect of such holdings upon family farms and rural communities. Click here for more information on AFIDA.
Producers can enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program and to make election changes for the 2024 crop year. The deadline to complete enrollment and any election change is March 15, 2024.
2024 Elections and Enrollment
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County (ARC-CO) or PLC, which provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual (ARC-IC), which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2024 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm it will continue for 2024 unless an election change is made.
If producers do not submit their election revision by the March 15, 2024, deadline, their election remains the same as their 2023 election for commodities on the farm. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the cropland.
Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
More Information
For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact their local USDA Service Center. Producers can also make elections and complete enrollment online with level 2 eAuth.
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.
USDA's Rural Development (RD) in Indiana is accepting applications for grants to help agricultural producers maximize the value of their products and venture into new and better markets.
USDA is making the grants available under the Value-Added Producer Grants program. The grants help farmers and ranchers generate new products, create marketing opportunities, and increase their incomes through value-added activities.
Eligible applicants include independent producers, agricultural producer groups, farmer or rancher cooperatives, and majority-controlled producer-based business ventures.
USDA may award up to $75,000 for planning activities or up to $250,000 for working capital expenses related to producing and marketing a value-added agricultural product.
Planning activities may include conducting feasibility studies and developing business plans. Working capital expenses may include costs associated with processing, marketing, advertising, inventory and salaries.
Paper applications must be postmarked and delivered by mail, email or in person to the state office where the project is proposed by close of business on April 16, 2024. Electronic applications will be accepted via Grants.gov until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 11, 2024.
Additional information is available on page 2919 of the January 17 Federal Register or by contacting your local USDA Rural Development office.
Interested in learning more about Hydroponics or Greenhouse Crop Production?
If so, register for the following webinars from Purdue University Extension.
-
Nutrient Management in Recycling Hydroponic Systems
-
Temperature Management (Summer/ Winter) in Greenhouses
-
Organic Lettuce Production in Hydroponic Systems
-
How to Build an Indoor Hydroponic Production System for Homes and Schools
-
Fundamentals of Soilless Substrates for Floriculture Crop Production
- September 18, noon to 1 pm
Registration is free! Register here for all webinars: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e5UHHPj4UtdQ0QK
Questions may be directed to Lori Jolly-Brown via email at ljollybr@purdue.edu or phone at 765-494-1296.
|
The Indiana Grown program has announced an upcoming Symposium in March 2024, designed for agritourism businesses, farmers, and food-based operators.
The Symposium will be taking place on March 19th at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds in Danville, IN. The event will feature guest presenters, panel discussions and opportunities to meet one-on-one with an Indiana Small Business development agribusiness advisor.
The full event agenda and registration can be found on the Indiana Grown website – indianagrown.org or contact Indiana Grown at indianagrown@isda.in.gov for more information.
|
USDA announced loan interest rates for March 2024, which were effective March 1, 2024. USDA’s FSA loans provide important access to capital to help agricultural producers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures, or meet cash flow needs.
FSA also offers guaranteed loans through commercial lenders at rates set by those lenders.
Check your eligibility for FSA loans by utilizing the Farm Loan Assistance Tool. Find out which of these loans may be right for you by using our Farm Loan Discovery Tool.
Producers can explore available options on all FSA loan options at fsa.usda.gov or by contacting your local USDA Service Center.
2024 Indiana FSA Important Deadline Dates
March 4 – General CRP Signup Begins
March 15 – 2024 ARC-PLC Election and Enrollment Deadline
March 15 – NAP Sales Closing Date for annual spring/summer planted crops not limited to: beans, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, canola, cantaloupes, carrots, cauliflower, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, greens, herbs, honeydew, lettuce, oats, okra, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, sorghum, squash, tomatillos, tomatoes and watermelons.
March 29 - Final Date to Submit an Offer for General CRP Signup
April 1 – Final Date to Obtain Loans or Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP’s) on 2023 Small Grains
April 1 – Nesting Season begins for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Practices – MCM Activities are Prohibited During Nesting Season
April 29 - Final Date to Enroll in the 2024 Dairy Margin Coverage Program
Ongoing – Submit an Application for a Farm Storage Facility Loan
Ongoing – Submit an Offer for Continuous Conservation Reserve Program Practices
Continuous - Submit an Application for FSA Farm Loans
Continuous - Signup for Local County Office FSA Text Alerts - Text Your Service Center Keyword to FSANOW (372-669)
Continuous – Sign up for GovDelivery Newsletters, Bulletins and Indiana Press Releases (Subscribe to USDA Emails for Farmers | Farmers.gov)
|
