Edmunds County Tribune -

DEADLINES

May 26 — Deadline to signup up for 2023 Grassland Conservation Reserve Program

May 29 — Office Closed for Memorial Day

June 2 — Deadline to sign up for ERP 2 and PARP

June 19 — Office Closed for Juneteenth        

July 17 — Deadline to certify acres

July 17 — Deadline to report yields for ARC-IC elected farms

Livestock Losses: If you have livestock and have lost any due to recent winter storms/blizzards please report the livestock death losses.  These losses need to be reported within 30 calendar days of when the loss was first apparent. 

Acreage Reporting Maps: If you have not already received a copy of your 2023 FSA maps, please contact the office if you would like them emailed or stop by and pick them up.

When planting is complete: You can e-mail the maps to [email protected] or drop off your completed maps.

Prevented Planting: If you are prevented from planting a crop, you must report that to FSA no later than 15 calendar days after the final planting date.

Crop: Final Plant date — Deadline to report Prevented Planting

Wheat: May 15 — May 30

Corn: May 25 — June 9

Soybeans: June 10 — June 26

Sunflowers: June 25 —  July 10

Farm Changes: If you have any farm changes, please contact the office so we can get the changes made timely before certification. 

Wind, Water and Weeds: If you’re enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, you must protect all cropland and non-cropland acres on the farm from wind and water erosion and noxious weeds. By signing ARC/PLC contracts, you agree to effectively control noxious weeds on the farm according to sound agricultural practices. If you fail to take necessary actions to correct a maintenance problem on your farm that is enrolled in ARC or PLC, the County Committee may elect to terminate your contract for the program year. 

May 1st-August 1st is the PRIMARY NESTING SEASON IN SOUTH DAKOTA. Control of weeds on CRP is a requirement for all active CRP Contracts.  If you wish to complete Weed Control during the primary nesting season you need to contact the office.

Grassland CRP Signup

Announced

Agricultural producers and landowners can now sign up for the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a conservation program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and a key tool in the Biden-Harris Administration effort to address climate change and achieve other natural resource benefits. The Grassland CRP signup will run from April 17th to May 26th.

Grassland CRP is a working lands program, helping landowners and operators protect grassland, including rangeland and pastureland and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as working grazing lands. Protecting grasslands contributes positively to the economy of many regions, provides biodiversity of plant and animal populations and provides important carbon sequestration benefits to deliver lasting climate outcomes. For more information, including a list of acceptable practices, contact the Edmunds County USDA Service Center at (605)426-6951, Ext. 2 or visit fsa.usda.gov/crp.

New Assistance for

Distressed Borrowers

FSA intends to provide the new round of relief starting in April to additional distressed borrowers. This will include approximately $123 million in automatic financial assistance for qualifying Farm Loan Program (FLP) direct loan borrowers who meet certain criteria. Similar to the automatic payments announced in October 2022, qualifying borrowers will receive an individual letter detailing the assistance as payments are made. Distressed borrowers’ eligibility for these new categories of automatic payments will be determined based on their circumstances as of today. More information about the new categories that make up the $123 million in assistance announced recently and the specific amount of assistance a distressed borrower receives can be found described in this fact sheet, IRA Section 22006: Additional Automatic Payments, Improved Procedures, and Policy Recommendations.

To continue to make sure producers are aware of relief potentially available to them, all producers with open FLP loans will receive a letter detailing a new opportunity to receive assistance if they took certain extraordinary measures to avoid delinquency on their FLP loans, such as taking on more debt, selling property or cashing out retirement accounts. The letter will provide details on eligibility, the specific types of actions that may qualify for assistance, and the process for applying for and providing the documentation to seek that assistance.

These steps are part of a process USDA announced along with the October payments that is focused on assisting borrowers unable to make their next scheduled installment. Earlier this year, all borrowers should have received a letter detailing the process for seeking this type of assistance even before they become delinquent. Borrowers who are within two months of their next installment may seek a cashflow analysis from FSA using a recent balance sheet and operating plan to determine their eligibility.