|
Hello everyone,
Thanks for reading these updates, our goal is to keep you updated on current news from your USDA Service Center in Palmyra.
Below you will find information and deadlines that may pertain to your farming operation.
ARC/PLC Election and Enrollment: Enrollment is now open and elections can be revised for the 2024 program year. All producers who share in the base acres must sign their contracts by the March 15, 2024, deadline to be eligible. Time is running out to complete enrollment, so please take care of this as quickly as possible. See the new Effective Reference prices for PLC in the article below.
Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL): Allows producers to use eligible commodities as loan collateral and obtain a 9-month loan while the crop is in storage. These loans provide cash flow and allow marketing of the crop when prices may be more advantageous. Interest rates change monthly, current rates are 5.875%. MAL Fact Sheet
Have you made changes to your banking, address, phone, email, etc.? If so, please report those changes to our office so we can keep your records up to date. FSA payments are made via direct deposit and will be delayed if we don't have your correct banking information.
Noninsured Assistance Program (NAP): Sales Closing Date for 2024 Pasture is March 15, 2024.
If you are not signed up for our text caster, you can do so by texting MOMARION to FSA-NOW (372-669) to sign up.
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 $2,236,000. 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 FSA farm loan programs, contact Amy Myers at the Monroe County USDA Service Center at 660-327-4137 ext. 2 or visit fsa.usda.gov.
You can now enroll in the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2024 crop year. Producers can enroll and make election changes for the 2024 crop year starting Dec. 18, 2023. 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.
Payments- Note both ARC & PLC are paid on 85% of the base acres on the farm while ARC-IC is paid on 65% of the base acres on the farm.
PLC is price based, please take note the Effective Reference prices for 2024 are higher than they were last year. $4.01 corn, $9.26 soybeans, & $5.50 for wheat. PLC payments will be made if the Market Year Average (MYA) price falls below the noted effective reference prices. The 2024 MYA price for corn & soybeans will be established Sept 1, 2024 - August 31, 2025. For Wheat June 1, 2024 - May 31, 2025. ARC-CO is revenue based specific to each county. It compares the previous 5 years of revenue, for 2024 (2018-2022) dropping the high & low revenue years to arrive at an Olympic Average & comparing that to the current year's (2024) Actual Revenue. ARC-IC is similar to ARC-CO except the I stands for (Individual). Individual coverage calculates the revenue from your farm over the base years (2018-2022) & compares them to the current years Actual Revenue.
ARC and PLC payments for a given crop year are paid out the following fall to allow actual county yields and the Market Year Average prices to be finalized. These payments help mitigate fluctuations in either revenue or prices for certain crops. Payments for crops that may trigger for the 2023 crop year will be issued in the fall of 2024.
Web-Based Decision Tools - Many universities offer web-based decision tools to help producers make informed, educated decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations. Producers are encouraged to use the tool of their choice to support their ARC and PLC elections.
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.
General Signup: General CRP Signup 62 has been announced and FSA will be accepting offers from March 4th to March 29th, 2024. The program, administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provides annual rental payments for 10 to 15 years for land devoted to conservation purposes and wildlife habitats. This is a timely process and making appointments helps us be prepared and ready to serve you better.
For land to be eligible for enrollment into CRP, the land must be in farmable condition, and it must have been planted to an agricultural commodity at least 4 out of the 6 years between 2012 and 2017, few exceptions . Land that has been enrolled in CRP during those years is also eligible to be re-offered, including CRP contracts that expire on September 30, 2024. However, any areas that have become overgrown with trees or brush and are no longer farmable will not be eligible unless they are cleaned up before the offer is made. FSA boundary lines will be updated at this time.
Once the March 29th deadline passes and all general CRP offers are submitted, the offers will be ranked using an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI). This index will assign a point total to each offer that represents the benefits to be gained by enrolling that acreage into CRP. A cutoff will then be determined by the National Office to determine which offers will be accepted for enrollment.
There are a few ways that one can increase the points for their general CRP offer. The type of ground cover is a large factor. Points range from 10 to 50 depending on the type of cover existing or to be planted. Points are also available for establishing quail friendly habitat, planting 10% of the contract to a pollinator habitat, or for agreeing to plant food plots on the acreage. Points can also be earned by agreeing to accept a rental rate below the maximum allowable rental rate. Please click the link to learn more about the CRP Signup: General CRP Signup 62 Factsheet
Continuous Signup 61: will run from January 12th thru July 31, 2024. Acres will be prioritized to ensure that the acreage enrolled does not exceed the statutory limitation. Continuous offers will be accepted on a non-competitive first come, first-serve basis. The first batching period is March 15th, 2024. If you are interested in enrollment, please contact our office for more details or click Here to learn more about Continuous CRP.
The most common Continuous Signup practices, include acres that have an Erodibility Index (EI) of 20 or greater, grassed waterways, wildlife buffers, filter strips, riparian buffers, wetland restoration and others. These practices are designed for the most environmentally sensitive ground and target specific conservation goals.
|
