As October nears the end, we hope you had a good harvest season. There are several fall activities remaining to complete to prepare for next year's crop.  National Farmer’s Day was celebrated on October 12^th, and we wanted to make sure you all know how much we appreciate you and all you do.

Certifying Fall Crops:  As September arrives, we would like to remind producers who plant fall-seeded crops to report their acreage to FSA by November 15^th. Fall seeded crops are commodities planted during the fall that will be harvested next spring. Examples for crops in our area would be winter wheat or rye but that is not an all-inclusive list. 

NRCS Notice for CSP Deadline:  The cut-off for 2025 Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) applications is November 15, 2024. The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is a voluntary conservation program that encourages producers to address resource concerns in a comprehensive manner by undertaking additional conservation activities; and improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation activities. Eligible applications received by 11/15/2024, will be evaluated, prioritized, and ranked for funding in 2025.  If funding allows, a second application cutoff will be set later in the year.  Applications are accepted continually – the announced dates are the cutoff for ranking.  Visit your local NRCS field office to apply now. For more information, visit https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/csp-conservation-stewardship-program/minnesota/conservation-stewardship. We look forward to assisting with your conservation needs!

Commodity Loans:  With harvest pretty much complete, FSA offers a 9-month commodity loan for grain in storage which is a great tool to help finance your operation. If you have 2024 grain in the bin, marketing assistance loans are able to provide interim financing following harvest time to meet cash flow needs without having to sell commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. Allowing producers to store production at harvest facilitates and allowing for orderly marketing of commodities throughout the year. A commodity loan is also a great end of year tax planning tool. Once you are ready to sell the grain or prior to loan maturity, you can pay off the loan. See commodity loan rates below in this bulletin. 

Form FSA-156EZ Available With Farmers.gov Account:  I encourage you to visit the farmers.gov website and create an account. Producers can now create a secure account that allows them access to their Farm Records information 24/7. See more information in the article below.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture Beginning Farmer Grants:  Applications for a new grant to help beginning Minnesota farmers purchase equipment and infrastructure through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) are open from September 24 - November 21. Farmers can apply for up to $20,000 to reimburse costs associated with purchasing farm equipment or paying for farm infrastructure development, such as investments in water access, irrigation, fencing, electricity, walk-in coolers, livestock buildings, greenhouses, and other similar structures. Visit the MDA website for more information.

Farm Storage Facility Loan:  As you are wrapping up the 2024 crop year and preparing for the 2025 crop year - Did you know FSA’s Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL) can help you with your storage and handling needs? 

During harvest, were you thinking that you really could use a truck, grain cart, sugar beet cart, auger, or another piece of equipment to meet your handling needs? Do you need additional storage, grain dryer, or improved grain handling? Are interest rates at your local lender holding you back from making that purchase?  Then why don’t you give our FSFL program a chance to help you:

• Acquire new or used storage and handling trucks;
• Acquire portable or permanently affixed storage and handling equipment;
• Acquire new or used storage facilities.

A variety of structures, handling equipment, and trucks are eligible under this loan, including new and used - dryers, augers, trucks, grain trailers (hopper, live bottom, end dump), including semi tractors, baggers, bale wrappers, grain carts, sugar beet carts, forklifts and skid steers, bulk tanks, propane tanks, hay barns, facilities for cold storage, storage, drying, & handling facilities, and many more options available.

Contact your local FSA office early in your planning process to determine what level of environmental review is required for your program application so that it can be completed timely.

Leon Johnson, CED

Important Dates and Deadlines:
October 31 - Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) Application Deadline.
November 4 - December 2 - County Committee Election
November 11 - USDA Service Centers Closed in Observance of Veteran's Day
November 15 - Fall Acreage Reporting Deadline for Fall Seeded Crops such as Winter Wheat, Rye, etc.
November 15 - NRCS CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program) Cutoff for 2025, Contact NRCS for details

October Interest Rates

Commodity Loan Interest Rate:  5.125%

Farm Loan Program - Interest Rates:
4.875% - Farm Operating Loans, Direct
5.375% - Farm Ownership Loans, Direct
3.375% - Farm Ownership, Joint Financing
1.500% - Farm Ownership Loans, Beginning Farmer Down Payment

Farm Storage Facility Loan Program Interest Rates:
3.625% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 3-Year
3.500% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 5-Year
3.625% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 7-Year
3.750% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 10-Year
3.875% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 12-Year

Keep Connected with FSA:  How do you want to get information from us in the office - besides this bulletin - the best way is to sign up for text messages that pertain to critical information that is happening at that time. Signup for text messages by following the steps below!

Get a Text From FSA:  As we continue to transition to more and more electronic pathways of communication, I encourage you to sign up for our text message alerts. This will assist you with staying on top of all FSA program deadlines. FSA provides text message alerts (no more than 2 per month) for important reminders and deadlines. Don’t miss out on getting these effortless reminders. Let’s get you signed up right now!

1. Take out your cell-phone
2. Create a new text message, send:  MNWestOtterTail to 372-669  or  MNWilkin to 372-669
3. Press send

If you did these 3 easy steps, you are signed up to receive text alerts!

The following acreage reporting deadlines are relevant for Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties:

November 15 – Fall-seeded crops (Winter Rye, Winter Wheat, etc.)

In order to maintain program eligibility and benefits, you must file timely acreage reports. Failure to file an acreage report by the crop acreage reporting deadline may cause ineligibility for future program benefits. FSA will not accept acreage reports provided more than a year after the acreage reporting deadline.

Producers are encouraged to file their acreage reports as soon as planting is completed.

For more information, contact the West Otter Tail County USDA Service Center at 218-739-4694 or the Wilkin County USDA Service Center at 218-643-1536.

Looking for ways to do business with USDA that saves you time? Look no further than farmers.gov.

When you create an account for the farmers.gov authenticated customer portal, you have access to self-service features through a secure login. Managing your business with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is faster than ever. From e-signing documents, viewing, printing, and exporting maps and receiving notifications of payment disbursements, a farmers.gov authenticated account makes doing business with USDA easy and secure. 

What can you do with your farmers.gov account?

• View FSA Farm Loan information including interest payments, loan advances, payment history and paid-in-full/restructured loans.
• Make USDA direct farm loan payments using the Pay My Loan feature.
• Access the Online Loan Application portal.
• View, print and export detailed FSA farm records and farm/tract maps.
• Import precision agriculture planting boundaries, create labels containing crop information, and print both on farm tract maps.
• View and print your FSA-156EZ with farm details
• View and print your Producer Farm Data Report
• View NRCS Disbursements and Farm Loans financial activity from the past 180 days.
• View your land, access NRCS data on your conservation plans, contracts, and planning land units through the Conservation Land Area page.
• View, upload, download and e-sign NRCS documents.
• Request NRCS conservation and financial assistance, including submitting a program application.
• View detailed information on all previous and ongoing NRCS contracts, including the amount of cost- share assistance received and anticipated; and even request contract modifications, report practice completion and request practice certification.
• “Switch Profiles” to act on behalf of your entity or another individual when you have active representative authority on file

If you’d like to see the features in action and learn more about how to use them, check out the 3-5 minute farmers.gov account video tutorials.

How do you create a farmers.gov account? Visit farmers.gov/account to access information about farmers.gov accounts and sign in to the site’s authenticated portal. You will need a Login.gov account linked to your USDA customer record to access your farmers.gov authenticated site. Customers who are new to USDA should visit Get Started at Your USDA Service Center, then go to farmers.gov/account to create a farmers.gov account.

To create a farmers.gov account you will need: 

• A USDA individual customer record — A customer record contains information you have given to USDA to do business with them, like your name, address, phone number, and any legal representative authority relationships. Contact your local USDA Service Center to make sure you have an individual USDA customer record on file and your information is up to date.
• A Login.gov account — Login.gov is a sign-in service that gives people secure online access to participating government programs. You can create a Login.gov account linked to your customer record by following the directions on gov/account.
• Identity Verification — You can choose to verify your identity with Login.gov or in-person at a USDA Service Center.

In addition to the self-service features, farmers.gov also has information on USDA programs, farm loans, disaster assistance, conservation programs and crop insurance.

The cut-off for 2025 Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) applications is November 15, 2024.

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is a voluntary conservation program that encourages producers to address resource concerns in a comprehensive manner by undertaking additional conservation activities; and improving, maintaining, and managing existing conservation activities. Eligible applications received by 11/15/2024, will be evaluated, prioritized, and ranked for funding in 2025.

If funding allows, a second application cutoff will be set later in the year.  Applications are accepted continually – the announced dates are the cutoff for ranking.

Visit your local NRCS field office to apply now. For more information, visit https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/csp-conservation-stewardship-program/minnesota/conservation-stewardship. We look forward to assisting with your conservation needs!

Creating Market Opportunities, Delivering Climate Solutions

USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities effort is expanding markets for America’s climate-smart commodities, leveraging the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production, and providing direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers. Learn more about expanded markets, premiums, and incentives for producing climate-smart commodities as well as cost share and technical assistance to implement climate-smart practices. Find a project near you and get started today!