The County Committee met in January and held their organizational meeting.  

Alvin Wetzel will serve as the County Committee Chairperson

Amy J. Wolfe will serve as Vice-Chairperson

Lemoyne Eckroth will serve as Voting Member

Important Dates:

February 17th: Office Closed in observance of President's Day

March 3rd: Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP); Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP); and Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) Deadline

March 15th: Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) spring-seeded Fruit, Vegetable, and Hemp Deadline 

March 31st: Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Deadline

April 15th: Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Deadline

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting applications for Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) for the 2025 coverage year from Jan. 29 to March 31. DMC is a voluntary risk management program that offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer. The American Relief Act, 2025 extended many Farm Bill-authorized programs for another year, including DMC.

DMC offers different levels of coverage, even an option that is free to producers, minus a $100 administrative fee. The administrative fee is waived for dairy producers who are considered limited resource, beginning, socially disadvantaged or a military veteran.

DMC payments are calculated using updated feed and premium hay costs, making the program more reflective of actual dairy producer expenses. These updated feed calculations use 100% premium alfalfa hay. For more information on DMC, visit the DMC webpage or contact your Schuylkill County USDA FSA Office at (570) 391-3337.

Are you an agricultural landowner interested in protecting the integrity of your property? Consider safeguarding your land with a conservation easement through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). NRCS accepts agricultural conservation easement applications year-round; however, applications for Fiscal Year 2025 funding are being accepted beginning today through March 7, 2025. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) protects the agricultural viability and related conservation values of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses which negatively affect agricultural uses and conservation values. The ACEP protects grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible grazing land, and it also protects, restores and enhances wetlands on eligible land.

The Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) component funds permanent agricultural land easements that not only protect the future of the nation's food supply, but also support environmental quality, wildlife habitat, and historic preservation and protection of open spaces. Landowner applicants who are interested must apply through an eligible entity – such as a land trust, municipality, or State agencies. NRCS will prioritize applications that protect agricultural uses and related conservation values of the land and those that maximize the protection of contiguous acres devoted to agricultural use.

Under the Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) component, landowners may apply directly to NRCS for a conservation easement to restore wetlands impacted by agriculture. Wetland Reserve Easements provide habitat for fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species, improve water quality by filtering sediments and chemicals, reduce flooding, recharge groundwater, protect biological diversity, provide resilience to climate change, and provide opportunities for limited recreational activities.

For more information, contact your Schuylkill County USDA NRCS Office at (570) 391-3338.

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) will host its second webinar on the Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index endorsement and Tropical Storm option on Feb. 13, 2025, from 2 to 3 p.m. Central on Microsoft Teams (add to calendar: iCal, Google or Outlook). RMA is encouraging producers to attend the webinar to learn more about the additional insurance coverage these programs can provide.

Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) and the Tropical Storm Option (TS) are crop insurance tools to help deliver prompt assistance to producers in hurricane prone areas. These innovative policies add to a farmer’s underlying policy with no additional paperwork or loss adjustment needed. HIP-WI and TS generally pay within weeks following a hurricane or tropical storm.

Since implementation of HIP-WI in crop year 2020 and TS in crop year 2023, these programs have paid over $1.5 billion within a few weeks after each tropical cyclone. In 2024, five hurricanes triggered $770 million in payments across nine states (Hurricanes Beryl, Debby, Francine, Helene and Milton).

HIP-WI provides coverage for 70 different crops and is available in counties in these states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia and Virginia. HIP-WI coverage must be purchased by the sales closing date (SCD) of a producer’s underlying policy. Sales closing dates vary by crop. Therefore, producers should check with a crop insurance agent to verify the SCD for a crop and county.

RMA has educational tools, such as videos, podcasts, fact sheets and frequently asked questions, on its HIP-WI website.

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 $2,251,000. 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 or help applying for a direct farm ownership or operating loan, visit, www.fsa.usda.gov or contact your Berks County USDA Service Center Farm Loan Team at (610) 478-7158 Ext: 2. Berks County Farm Loan Team services Schuylkill County.

USDA Schuylkill County Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers of approaching application deadlines for purchasing risk coverage for some crops through the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). NAP provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops impacted by natural disasters that result in lower yields, crop losses, or prevented crop planting.

NAP covers losses from natural disasters on crops for which no permanent federal crop insurance program is available, including forage and grazing crops, fruits, vegetables, floriculture, ornamental nursery, aquaculture, turf grass and more.

Upcoming application deadlines for NAP coverage in Schuylkill County for the 2025 production season include:

• Spring seeded fruits, vegetables and Hemp: March 15, 2025

NAP basic coverage is available at 55% of the average market price for crop losses that exceed 50% of expected production. Buy-up coverage is available in some cases. NAP offers higher levels of coverage, ranging from 50% to 65% of expected production in 5% increments, at 100% of the average market price. Producers of organic crops and crops marketed directly to consumers also may exercise the “buy-up” option to obtain NAP coverage of 100% of the average market price at coverage levels ranging between 50% and 65% of expected production. Buy-up coverage is not available for crops intended for grazing.

For all coverage levels, the NAP service fee is the lesser of $325 per crop or $825 per producer per county, not to exceed a total of $1,950 for a producer with farming interests in multiple counties. Premiums apply for buy-up coverage.

If a producer has a Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification (form CCC-860) on file with FSA, it may serve as an application for basic coverage for all eligible crops beginning with crop year 2022. These producers will have all NAP-related service fees for basic coverage waived.  These producers may also receive a 50% premium reduction if higher levels of coverage are elected on form CCC-471, prior to the application closing date for each crop.

To learn more about NAP visit fsa.usda.gov/nap or contact your local Schuylkill County USDA FSA Office at (570) 391-3337.