We know many of you have started to plant over the last couple weeks. As you get started, please keep in mind that spring-seeded crop acreage certification will be one of the next big things we need from you. While the reporting deadline isn’t until mid-July, you can help our office out now.
If you have not already received your acreage certification maps, please drop by to pick them up. As you are planting, fill them out with all appropriate information as indicated on the cover letter. Then, when you are finished planting, return them to the FSA office. We will prepare your FSA 578 for your review and signature.
These efforts will assist us with successfully getting everyone through the door for acreage certification by the deadline. We appreciate your assistance.
For those of you who are calving and lambing right now, please remember that updated livestock inventory records are crucial to FSA livestock disaster assistance programs, such as the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP). While we hope you won’t need either of these programs this production season, good records will help us be able to assist you, so please document births, deaths and other movements into and out of your herd.
That’s all for this month. Best wishes for a great spring season on the farm and ranch.
--Raela Brandt
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April 29, 2024 – FSA deadline for applications for the Dairy Margin Coverage Program
May 27, 2024 – USDA Service Centers closed for federal holiday
May 31, 2024 – 2023 Marketing Assistance Loan availability deadline for corn, dry peas, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, safflower seed, chickpeas, soybeans, sunflower seed
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To comply with program eligibility requirements, all producers are encouraged to contact the Otoe County FSA office to file an accurate acreage certification report by the applicable deadline.
The acreage reporting deadline for all spring-seeded crops, Conservation Reserve Program acres, perennial grass acres and cover crop acres is July 15, 2024. Prevented planted acres must be reported within 15 days of the final planting date of the crop. Failed acres should be reported before destruction of the crop, if applicable.
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy holders should note that the acreage reporting date for NAP covered crops is the earlier of the date listed above or 15 calendar days before grazing or harvesting of the crop begins. Producers who file accurate and timely acreage certification reports, including failed and prevented planted acreage, can prevent the potential loss of USDA program benefits.
For questions regarding acreage certification, please contact the Otoe County FSA office at (402) 269-2361, ext. 2.
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Otoe County Farm Service Agency (FSA) is reminding producers that annual acreage reporting is an important eligibility requirement to receive financial benefits through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), as well as a number of other FSA-administered programs.
The next deadline for annual acreage reporting in Nebraska is July 15, 2024. This includes common spring-planted crops, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and grain sorghum, but also includes perennial grass (pasture) and Conservation Reserve Program acres.
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy holders should note that the acreage reporting date for NAP-covered crops is July 15, 2024, or 15 calendar days before grazing or harvesting of the crop begins.
Even though the acreage reporting deadline is months away, the county FSA office is encouraging producers with pasture acres and acres planted for grazing purposes to complete certification of those acres as soon as possible to assist the office with preparations for potential program implementation.
LFP provides financial assistance to livestock producers and contract growers who also are producers of grazed forage crop acres (native and improved pasture and crops planted specifically for grazing purposes) and who have suffered a loss due to a qualifying drought during the grazing season. Other points regarding LFP and acreage certification:
- Producers must have a risk in the pasture or hay crop acres in order to complete the acreage certification process.
- In addition to the acreage reporting requirement, LFP applicants who lease acres must be able to support their application with either a written lease or an Annual Lease Certification (CCC-855).
- Producers who previously have certified grazing land through a continuous certification may want to contact the county FSA office to ensure that certification remains in place and reflects 2024 producers and shares.
Producers can contact the Otoe County FSA at (402) 269-2361, ext. 2 for additional information.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Raela Brandt in Otoe County reminds foreign investors with an interest in agricultural land in the United States that they are required to report their land holdings and transactions to USDA.
The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) requires foreign investors who buy, sell or hold an interest in U.S. agricultural land to report their holdings and transactions to the USDA. Foreign investors must file AFIDA Report Form FSA-153 with the FSA county office in the county where the land is located. Large or complex filings may be handled by AFIDA headquarters staff in Washington, D.C.
According to CFR Title 7 Part 781, any foreign person who holds an interest in U.S. agricultural land is required to report their holdings no later than 90 days after the date of the transaction.
Foreign investors should report holdings of agricultural land totaling 10 acres or more used for farming, ranching or timber production, and leaseholds on agricultural land of 10 or more years. Tracts totaling 10 acres or less in the aggregate, and which produce annual gross receipts in excess of $1,000 from the sale of farm, ranch, forestry or timber products, must also be reported. AFIDA reports are also required when there are changes in land use, such as from agricultural to nonagricultural use. Foreign investors must also file a report when there is a change in the status of ownership.
The information from AFIDA reports is used to prepare an annual report to Congress. These annual reports to Congress, as well as more information, are available on the FSA AFIDA webpage.
Assistance in completing the FSA-153 report may be obtained from the local FSA office. For more information regarding AFIDA or FSA programs, contact the Otoe County FSA office at (402) 269-2361, ext. 2, or visit farmers.gov.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the launch of a new Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) conservation effort – the Northern Bobwhite Pilot Project, which offers agricultural producers and landowners the tools to conserve wildlife habitat for northern bobwhite quail by improving East-Central grasslands while achieving other critical conservation benefits, including sequestering carbon and improving water quality and soil health.
The Northern Bobwhite Pilot Project, offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through Working Lands for Wildlife, provided dedicated funding of $13 million -- for fiscal year 2024 -- in new assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. This is for producers to help the bobwhite and other game and non-game species by managing their working lands for early successional habitat while meeting their lands natural resource and production goals.
This new pilot includes funding to support producers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
NRCS accepts applications year-round for EQIP. Interested producers in Nebraska should contact or visit their local USDA Service Center to enroll.
The Northern Bobwhite Pilot Project supports the 5-year, 7-million-acre goal of the Working Lands for Wildlife Northern Bobwhite, Grasslands and Savannas Framework for Conservation Action unveiled in 2022 by USDA. Recently, NRCS expanded the Climate- Smart Agriculture and Forestry Mitigation Activities that qualify for funding through the Inflation Reduction Act. Those funds will also be critical to Working Lands for Wildlife’s success in reaching its long-term goals.
The Northern Bobwhite Pilot Project advances USDA’s efforts in climate-smart agriculture with almost 20 climate-smart practices being deployed voluntarily on private lands, including field borders, brush management, tillage management, prescribed burning, prescribed grazing, forest stand improvement and herbaceous weed treatment. More than 17 conservation practices that support climate smart mitigation are included in the Northern Bobwhite Pilot Project.
New ‘Bobscapes’ App
NRCS and Quail Forever are also supporting northern bobwhite conservation with a new “Bobscapes” mobile app for citizen science reporting that will help researchers better understand population dynamics and help managers direct resources for habitat work where those investments will be most effective in recovering the species. Additionally, for those interested, the app will connect landowners to technical experts who can make habitat recommendations and share information on voluntary cost share programs. Bobscapes reporting adheres to protection of personally identifiable information for citizens and for bobwhite locations. Lastly, the data provided will assist wildlife biologists in creating a national habitat network of “Bobwhite landscapes” necessary to ensure this species persists for future generations.
More Information
Producers and landowners interested in the Northern Bobwhite Pilot Project should contact NRCS at their local USDA Service Center to sign up now.
The USDA Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Direct Farm Ownership loans can help farmers and ranchers become owner-operators of family farms, improve and expand current operations, increase agricultural productivity, and assist with land tenure to save farmland for future generations.
There are three types of Direct Farm Ownership Loans: regular, down payment and joint financing. FSA also offers a Direct Farm Ownership Microloan option for smaller financial needs up to $50,000.
Joint financing allows FSA to provide more farmers and ranchers with access to capital. FSA lends up to 50 percent of the total amount financed. A commercial lender, a State program or the seller of the property being purchased, provides the balance of loan funds, with or without an FSA guarantee. The maximum loan amount for a joint financing loan is $600,000, and the repayment period for the loan is up to 40 years.
The operation must be an eligible farm enterprise. Farm Ownership loan funds cannot be used to finance nonfarm enterprises and all applicants must be able to meet general eligibility requirements. Loan applicants are also required to have participated in the business operations of a farm or ranch for at least three years out of the 10 years prior to the date the application is submitted. The applicant must show documentation that their participation in the business operation of the farm or ranch was not solely as a laborer.
For more information about farm loans, contact your Otoe County USDA Service Center at 402-269-2361 or visit fsa.usda.gov.
OPERATING/OWNERSHIP
Farm Operating: 5.125%
Farm Ownership: 5.375%
Farm Ownership – Limited Resource: 5%
Farm Ownership - Joint Financing: 3.375%
Farm Ownership - Down Payment: 1.5%
Emergency - Actual Loss: 3.75%
FARM STORAGE FACILITY LOAN
3-year term: 4.375%
5-year term: 4.250%
7-year term: 4.250%
10-year term: 4.250%
12-year term: 4.250%
MARKETING ASSISTANCE
Commodity Loan: 6%
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