We wish you a blessed holiday season! We are all very thankful for your efforts to provide a safe and reliable food supply.

As you begin your year-end tax planning, remember that FSA has financing options to help you. Options range from 9-month grain loans to longer term farm ownership and operating loans, please reach out to your office if you would like to explore FSA financing further.

Commodity Loans:  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. 

Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC):  The Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) program provides financial assistance to specialty crop producers to help them expand domestic markets or develop new markets for their crops. Signup started on December 10, 2024, and ends on January 8, 2024.  An example of eligible crops include:  

• Fruits (fresh, dried)
• Vegetables (including dry edible beans and peas, mushrooms, and
       vegetable seed)
• Tree nuts
• Nursery crops, Christmas trees, and floriculture
• Culinary and medicinal herbs and spices
• Honey, hops, maple sap, tea, turfgrass, and grass seed

Common examples of specialty crops can be found on USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service’s specialty crop definition webpage. 

Wool Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) – Please remember to contact our office to make sure you have page 1 of the CCC-633EZ submitted before you lose interest in the wool. For wool, these forms are tied to the calendar year, so if you plan on shearing after the 1st of the year, make sure you have submitted a 2025 CCC-633EZ, Page 1, to avoid losing out on potential wool LDPs

Conservation Reserve Program and Snowmobile Trails:  The Minnesota Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds landowners that snowmobile trails must be approved by FSA before being permitted on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage. The COUNTY FSA county committee determines whether or not snowmobile trails are allowed to cross acreage enrolled in CRP. If snowmobile trails are approved, a spot-check will be performed in the spring and any damaged cover must be restored at the contract holder’s expense. 

Farm Loan Program (FLP):  The Credit Team that works with our farm loan programs (annual operating and farm ownership loans) encourages everyone that may need assistance from the FSA office to apply sooner than later. The earlier you apply the less chance of funding limitations as we get closer to the 2024 planting season. The Credit Team members can be reached at the USDA Service in Fergus Falls at 218-739-4694

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:
December 13 - Deadline to apply for Organic Dairy
                         Marketing Assistance Program
December 25 - FSA offices closed in observance of
                         Christmas Day
December 31 - Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance
                         Program (NAP) closing deadline for
                         honey and maple sap for crop year 2025 
January 1 - FSA offices closed in observance of New Year's Day
January 2 - Deadline for annual certification of honeybee colonies for Noninsured 
                   Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) and Emergency Assistance
                   for livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP)
                   Eligibility
January 8 - Deadline to apply for the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops
                   (MASC) Program

December Interest Rates

Commodity Loan Interest Rate:  5.250%

Farm Loan Program - Interest Rates:
4.750% - Farm Operating Loans, Direct
5.250% - Farm Ownership Loans, Direct
3.250% - Farm Ownership, Joint Financing
1.500% - Farm Ownership Loans, Beginning Farmer Down Payment

Farm Storage Facility Loan Program Interest Rates:
4.125% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 3-Year
4.125% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 5-Year
4.250% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 7-Year
4.375% - Farm Storage Facility Loans, 10-Year
4.375% - 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!

Livestock inventory records are necessary in the event of a natural disaster, so remember to keep them updated.

When disasters strike, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) can help you if you’ve suffered excessive livestock death losses and grazing or feed losses due to eligible natural disasters.

To participate in the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), you’ll be required to provide verifiable documentation of death losses resulting from an eligible adverse weather event and must submit a notice of loss to your local FSA office no later than 60 calendar days after the end of the calendar year in which the eligible loss condition occurred. For the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP), you must submit a notice of loss to your local FSA office no later than the annual program application deadline of January 30 following the program year in which the loss occurred and should maintain documentation and receipts.

You should record all pertinent information regarding livestock inventory records including:

• Documentation of the number, kind, type, and weight range of livestock
• Beginning inventory supported by birth recordings or purchase receipts.

For more information on documentation requirements, contact the West Otter Tail County USDA Service Center at 218-739-4694 or the Wilkin County USDA Service Center at 218-643-1536 or visit fsa.usda.gov.

Agricultural producers of perishable commodities including fruits, vegetables and floriculture can now get funding for controlled atmosphere storage through Farm Storage Facility Loans (FSFL) offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA). Controlled atmosphere storage regulates the concentrations of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in a storage room to increase the shelf life of crops.

In addition to now supporting controlled atmosphere storage, FSFLs also provide low-interest financing to help producers build or upgrade storage facilities and to purchase portable (new or used) structures, equipment and storage and handling trucks.

The low-interest funds can also be used for controlled atmosphere storage monitoring equipment, designed to notify facility owners immediately if potential atmospheric concerns are detected. Producers may renovate existing storage facilities to include controlled atmosphere storage monitoring equipment. Authorized loan terms for FSFL renovations are three and five years only. To assist with monitoring gases and particle concentrations for controlled atmosphere storage, the following equipment, but not limited to, is eligible for an FSFL:

• Optical oxygen sensor
• Low power CO2 sensor
• Air quality sensor
• Gas detection devices
• Air temperature and relative humidity sensor
• Water activity meter
• Temperature stabilized water activity analyzer
• Precision and performance humidity and temperature transmitter

Loans of up to $100,000 can be secured by a promissory note/security agreement and loans exceeding $100,000 require additional security.

FSFL borrowers do not need to demonstrate lack of commercial credit availability to apply. The loans are designed to assist a diverse range of agricultural operations, including small and mid-sized businesses, new farmers and ranchers, operations supplying local food and farmers markets, non-traditional farm products and underserved producers.

For more information, see the FSFL fact sheet and contact FSA at your local USDA Service Center.

The Farm Loan team in West Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties are already working on operating loans for spring 2025 and asks potential borrowers to submit their requests early so they can be timely processed. The farm loan team can help determine which loan programs are best for applicants. 

FSA offers a wide range of low-interest loans that can meet the financial needs of any farm operation for just about any purpose. The traditional farm operating and farm ownership loans can help large and small farm operations take advantage of early purchasing discounts for spring inputs as well expenses throughout the year. 

Microloans are a simplified loan program that will provide up to $50,000 for both Farm Ownership and Operating Microloans to eligible applicants. These loans, targeted for smaller and non-traditional operations, can be used for operating expenses, starting a new operation, purchasing equipment, and other needs associated with a farming operation.  Loans to beginning farmers and members of underserved groups are a priority.

Other types of loans available include:

Marketing Assistance Loans allow 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 to the producer and allow them to market the crop when prices may be more advantageous.  

Farm Storage Facility Loans can be used to build permanent structures used to store eligible commodities, for storage and handling trucks, or portable or permanent handling equipment. A variety of structures are eligible under this loan, including bunker silos, grain bins, hay storage structures, and refrigerated structures for vegetables and fruit. A producer may borrow up to $500,000 per loan.  

The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) program provides low-interest financing to help you build or upgrade storage facilities and to purchase portable (new or used) structures, equipment and storage and handling trucks.

Eligible commodities include corn, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, oats, peanuts, wheat, barley, minor oilseeds harvested as whole grain, pulse crops (lentils, chickpeas and dry peas), hay, honey, renewable biomass, fruits, nuts and vegetables for cold storage facilities, floriculture, hops, maple sap, rye, milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, meat and poultry (unprocessed), eggs, and aquaculture (excluding systems that maintain live animals through uptake and discharge of water). Qualified facilities include grain bins, hay barns and cold storage facilities for eligible commodities.  

Loans up to $50,000 can be secured by a promissory note/security agreement, loans between $50,000 and $100,000 may require additional security, and loans exceeding $100,000 require additional security.

You do not need to demonstrate the lack of commercial credit availability to apply. The loans are designed to assist a diverse range of farming operations, including small and mid-sized businesses, new farmers, operations supplying local food and farmers markets, non-traditional farm products, and underserved producers.

For more information, contact your Lac qui Parle County USDA Service Center at 320-598-3226 or visit fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport.