Agricultural producers who have not yet completed their crop acreage reports after spring planting should make an appointment with the Livingston County Farm Service Agency (FSA) before the July 15th deadline.

An acreage report documents a crop grown on a farm and its intended uses. Filing an accurate and timely acreage report for all crops and land uses, including failed acreage and prevented planted acreage, can prevent the loss of benefits.

Please call the Livingston County Service Center to make an appointment.  We strongly encourage face to face appointments to do acreage reports for better accuracy and to complete any other farm or personal updates and forms required for potential 2024 payments.

To file a crop acreage report, you will need to provide:

Crop and crop type.
Number of acres of the crop.
Planting date(s).
Producer shares.
Acreage prevented from planting, when applicable or failed crops replanted to another crop
Other information as required.

July 5th is the last day to timely file a prevented plant soybeans

Conditions appear to have some soybeans planted after wheat has been harvested. Please come in and report and crops planted after wheat.

Nominations are now being accepted for farmers and ranchers to serve on local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Committees. These committees make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally.  All nomination forms for the 2024 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by August 1, 2024.   

Elections for committee members will occur in LAA #1 which makes up the following townships;  Saunemin, Sullivan, Avoca, Pleasant Ridge, Charlotte, Indian Grove, Forrest, Chatsworth, Belle Prairie, Fayette, and Germanville townships.  

Customers can locate their LAA through a geographic information system locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections and determine if their LAA is up for election by contacting their local FSA office. 

Agricultural producers may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee if they:

• Participate in a USDA program.
• Are voting members in the LAA that is up for election this year.

A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or received program benefits.  

Individuals may nominate themselves or others and qualifying organizations may also nominate candidates.  USDA encourages minority, women, urban and beginning farmers or ranchers to nominate, vote and hold office. 

USDA Reminds Producers of Climate-Smart Opportunities Using Farm Loan Programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds agricultural producers that Farm Loan Programs can be used to support a variety of climate-smart agriculture practices, which build on many practices that farmers and ranchers already use, like cover cropping, nutrient management and conservation tillage.

Climate-smart agricultural practices generate significant environmental benefits by capturing and sequestering carbon, improving water management, restoring soil health and more. Farm loan funding complements other tools to help producers adopt climate-smart practices, such as FSA’s Conservation Reserve Program, crop insurance options that support conservation, and conservation programs offered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

FSA offers multiple types of loans to help farmers and ranchers start, expand or maintain a family agricultural operation. These loans can provide the capital needed to invest in climate-smart practices and equipment including the establishment of rotational grazing systems, precision agriculture equipment or machinery for conversion to no-till residue management. Additionally, for programs like Conservation Reserve Program and NRCS conservation programs where USDA and the producer share the implementation cost, a farm loan could be used for the producer’s share, if consistent with the authorized loan purpose.

Some additional ways farm loans can be leveraged to invest in climate-smart agriculture practices or equipment include:

• Precision Agriculture Equipment - Eligible producers could use a Term Operating Loan to purchase equipment like GPS globes, monitors, or strip till fertilizer equipment.
• Cover Crops - Eligible producers could use an Annual Operating Loan for seed costs.
• No/Reduced Till - Eligible producers could use a Term Operating Loan to purchase equipment.
• Livestock Facility Air Scrubber or Waste Treatment - Eligible producers could use a Farm Ownership Loan for capital improvements to livestock facilities.
• Cross Fencing - Eligible producers could use an Annual or Term Operating Loan to purchase fencing and installation equipment.

Visit the Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry webpage on farmers.gov to learn more and see detailed examples of how an FSA farm loan can support climate-smart agriculture practices.

For more information, contact your Livingston County USDA Service Center
at (815) 844-6127 

July   4, 2024     Office Closed for Independence Day
July   5, 2024     Final Date To Report Prevent Plant Soybeans
July 15, 2024     Crop Acreage Reporting Deadline
July 31, 2024     Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Sign-up 61 deadline to submit an offer