Shawano-Menominee
County FSA Office 603A Lakeland Road
Shawano, Wisconsin 54166
Phone: (715) 524-4814, Ext. 2
Fax: (866) 296-9265 County Executive Director
Cheryl Bergold Farm Loan Manager
Daniel Schott
Phone: (920) 834-2366, Ext. 2 Office Hours:
Monday-Friday
8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Next FSA County
Committee Meeting:
To Be Determined
| Report Planted, Prevented Planted and Failed Acres Once planting is finished, be sure to visit our office and submit a report of your 2014 acreage. Crop reports are required to maintain eligibility for multiple program benefits. It's important to provide accurate information regarding crops, intended uses, and producer shares. In addition, this information should be consistent between FSA and your crop insurance provider. All spring-seeded crops have a reporting deadline of July 15, 2014. If a weather-related event has caused the inability to plant an intended crop or has caused a planted crop to fail, it is important to file these claims with both FSA and your crop insurance agent timely so that field visits may be completed as necessary. Failed acres must be reported before disposition of the crop (destroyed, replanted, or put to another use).
Prevented planted acres must be reported within 15 days of the final planting date for the crop. However, due to the excessive moisture this area received this spring that delayed or prevented spring planting of crops, we may now accept late-filed prevented planting claims as timely filed through July 15th. The authorization for FSA to accept late-filed prevented planting claims does NOT apply to crop insurance deadlines or crops covered under a NAP policy. FSA will verify with the crop insurance provider that the prevented planting claim was timely filed with them. FSA County Committee Nomination Period Underway We are currently accepting nominations for persons willing to serve on our FSA county committee for a three-year term representing western Shawano County. To be eligible to serve on the committee, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election, and reside in the local administrative area (LAA) where the person is nominated. The area up for election this year includes the following townships: Almon, Aniwa, Bartleme, Birnamwood, Fairbanks, Germania, Hutchins, Morris and Wittenberg. The local FSA county committee administers farm programs at the local level. The committee makes decisions on yields, conservation programs, disaster programs, general program eligibility issues and hears appeals from producers if requested. The FSA will be hosting an Open House on two dates and locations to share information with local producers and landowners on the importance of the FSA county committee election system and the upcoming committee elections. The first will be held at the FSA office on Wednesday, July 9th, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The second will be held in the conference room of the Stockbridge Munsee Community tribal building on July 23rd from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 pm. Nomination forms for the 2014 election must be postmarked or received by the Shawano-Menominee County FSA office by close of business on August 1, 2014. Elections will take place later this fall. For more information on the County Committee election process or to obtain a nomination form, either contact this office or visit the County Committee Elections website at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. | |
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Continuous Sign-up Restarted We are once again authorized to accept new offers under a CRP continuous sign-up. CRP is a voluntary program that offers annual rental payments for 10-15 years and cost-share assistance to establish long-term resource-conserving covers on eligible land. Offers made under the continuous sign-up are not subject to competitive bidding and are automatically accepted provided the land and producer eligibility criteria are met. The conservation practices available for the continuous signup include riparian buffers; filter strips; grassed waterways; shelter belts; field windbreaks; shallow water areas for wildlife; wetland restoration; farmable wetlands; farmable wetland buffer, marginal pastureland wildlife and/or wetland buffers, pollinator habitat, and living snow fences. Contact this office for additional information on the CRP continuous sign-up. Note: No general CRP sign-up will be held this fiscal year, which ends September 30th. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Updates & Reminders - Selling Your CRP Land? If you are a current CRP contract holder and you are planning to sell part or all of the CRP acreage, please notify our office. We want to advise you of the procedure for transferring the contract to the new owner/operator if that individual wants to continue with the program. Likewise, we want to inform you of the consequences for terminating a CRP contract. Remember, your CRP agreement is a binding contract. We simply want to help you make a smooth transition concerning the transfer of the contracted acreage.
- Clipping CRP Acres Not Allowed During Primary Nesting Season - During the primary nesting season in Wisconsin, clipping or spraying acres under a CRP contract is NOT allowed unless you have prior approval from the FSA County Committee. Spot clipping or spraying of CRP acres is only allowed outside of the primary nesting season. The primary nesting season in Wisconsin begins May 15th and continues through July 31st. Annual mowing, entire field mowing, and mowing for cosmetic purposes are prohibited at all times. If you have circumstances that you feel warrant clipping or spraying, please contact our office for more information.
- CRP Annual Maintenance Requirements - All CRP participants are contractually required to maintain the approved cover on the fields that are accepted into the program. This includes keeping weeds, insects, rodents, and encroaching woody vegetation out of the fields. These activities are all to take place outside the primary nesting season that is listed in your current conservation plan. Additionally nothing can be built or permanently stored on these fields during the contract lifespan, including deer stands and wood piles.
- Managed Haying and Grazing - This option is available on certain CRP practices one out of every three years after the cover is fully established. A request to revise your CRP conservation plan to allow managed haying and grazing must be completed prior to any haying or grazing being done. A 25% payment reduction will be assessed on the acres hayed or grazed. Haying and grazing may begin as early as July 16th, with haying ending by September 15th and all bales removed by September 30th. Grazing must be completed by September 30th. CRP participants interested in the managed haying/grazing option should contact our office.
Fruit and Vegetable (FAV) Provisions for 2014-2018 The 2014 Farm Bill provides greater flexibility to producers who plant fruits and vegetables (FAVs) or Wild Rice (WR). Planting and harvesting FAV and WR on acreage enrolled in the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs is allowed. However, this acreage will be subject to an acre-for-acre payment reduction when FAV and/or WR are planted on a farm's payment acreage under the applicable programs. Planting FAV and WR on acres that are not considered base acres will not result in a payment reduction. In addition, farms that are eligible to participate in ARC or PLC, but are not enrolled for a particular year, may plant unlimited FAV and WR for that year. Farm Storage Facility Loan Program The Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFLP) allows producers of eligible commodities to obtain low-interest financing to build or upgrade farm storage and handling facilities. Loans are available for bunkers, flat storage, hay barns, bins, grain drying and handling facilities as well as silos and oxygen limiting structures. Loans are also available for renovating existing storage facilities as well as for fruit, vegetable, honey and biomass storage.
The maximum principal amount of a loan through FSFL is $500,000. Participants are required to provide a down payment of 15 percent, with CCC providing a loan for the remaining 85 percent of the net cost of the eligible storage facility and permanent drying and handling equipment. Loan terms of 7, 10 or 12 years are available depending on the amount of the loan. Interest rates for each term rate may be different and are based on the rate which CCC borrows from the Treasury Department. Security requirements have been eased for loans between $50,000 and $100,000. Previously, all loans in excess of $50,000 required a promissory note and additional security, such as a lien on real estate. Now, for loans over $50,000 but less than $100,000, additional security is required if the loan collateral has no resale value, such as with a cement pad or a bunker silo with poured concrete pads. For more information about the FSFL, please contact this FSA office or visit www.fsa.usda.gov for more about FSA programs and loans, including the Farm Storage Facility Loan Program. Rural Youth Loans The Farm Service Agency makes loans to rural youths to establish and operate income-producing projects in connection with 4-H clubs, FFA and other agricultural groups. Projects must be planned and operated with the help of the organization advisor, produce sufficient income to repay the loan and provide the youth with practical business and educational experience. The maximum loan amount is $5000. Youth Loan eligibility requirements include: • Be a citizen of the United States or a legal resident alien
• Be 10 years to 20 years of age
• Comply with FSA's general eligibility requirements
• Reside in a rural area, city or town with a population of 50,000 or fewer people
• Be unable to get a loan from other sources
• Conduct a modest income-producing project in a supervised program of work as outlined above
• Demonstrate capability of planning, managing and operating the project under guidance and assistance from a project advisor. The project supervisor must recommend the project and the loan, along with providing adequate supervision.
If interested, please contact our office for more information on this opportunity. FSA Farm Loan Officer Trainee Hired in Shawano We are pleased to announce the hiring of Barb Hansen as the new Farm Loan Officer Trainee for the Shawano FSA Office. Many of you are familiar with Barb as she worked in our office for the last 16 years as a Program Technician handling the price support programs and disaster programs, along with conservation compliance. Best wishes to Barb in her new position! USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay),
(866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users). |
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