Farm Bill Education Meeting

November 19, 2014 Leave a comment


Farm Bill Education Meeting – Monday, November 24

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension and the Farm Service Agency (FSA), are teaming up to provide educational meetings about the 2014 Farm Bill. The meeting in Burt County will be held on Monday, November 24, 9:00 a.m. to noon, at the city auditorium in Tekamah.

 

All farm operators and land owners are invited to attend. FSA will inform participants about the sign-up process for the Farm Bill including the documentation needed and the deadlines for sign-up. UNL Extension will provide information about the decisions that will need to be made for base acre reallocation, yield updates, and for the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) vs. Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program selection.

 

It will be helpful to attend one of the meetings to get insight on the options everyone has with the 2014 Farm Bill. Farm Operators and Land Owners will have three main steps to signing up.

 

  • One is to review their current base acre allocations which is occurring at this time.
  • Secondly, a decision about re-allocation of base acres will need to be made.
  • Finally, the program selection will involve the ARC or PLC program.

 

ARC is the revenue safety net program similar to the recent ACRE program and PLC is the price safety net program. With ARC, the options will be an Individual ARC coverage vs. a County ARC coverage. With PLC, the available Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) will be discussed. Decisions made for this Farm Bill sometime in 2015 will be final for the duration of the Bill.

 

Farm Bill Education Meetings are being held in most Nebraska Counties. Each meeting will last approximately three hours. Other meetings in our area include:

Date                            Time               Town              Location

Monday, Nov. 24        1:00 p.m.         West Point       Nielson Center

Tuesday, Dec. 2         9:00 a.m.         Pender            Fire Hall

Thursday, Dec. 11      1:00 p.m.         Arlington          Fairgrounds

Monday, Dec. 15        9:00 a.m.         Scribner          Mohr Auditorium

 

For more information or assistance contact your local FSA or UNL Extension Office. For more information about the 2014 Farm Bill, go to www.farmbill.unl.edu or www.fsa.usda.gov/farmbill.

 

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Improvements to USDA Beginning Farmer Loans

November 4, 2014 Leave a comment


USDA recently announced several changes to Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan programs, changes designed to help more beginning farmers and ranchers. The new “interim final rule” will increase the Microloan limit from $35,000 to $50,000. This program provides a simplified application process and a seven year payback. Microloans can be used for approved operating expenses, such as seed, fertilizer, utilities, land rents, marketing, distribution, living expenses, livestock, equipment, hoop houses, tools, irrigation and delivery vehicles.

 

USDA is also changing the “experience” requirement for FSA Direct Farm Ownership loans. Previously, applicants had to prove they participated in the operations of a farm for at least three years. Beginning farmers across the country identified this restriction as a real barrier. It is not reflective of current realities in which new farmers enter agriculture.

 

The change will allow beginning farmers and ranchers to substitute one year of that three-year requirement with a formal farming apprenticeship, operation or management of a non-farm business, leadership or management experience while serving in any branch of the military, advanced education in an agricultural field, and significant experience in a farm-related agricultural career.
USDA also proposes changing the types of farming entities eligible to apply, potentially opening the door to non-majority investors who are not actively farming or managing the operation. We’ll watch these changes closely. The deadline to submit public comments on these changes to the USDA is December 8, 2014. Contact Traci Bruckner, tracib@cfra.org, for more information.

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