News

Farm Service Agency anticipating a busy December

December is shaping up to be a busy month for Farm Service Agency offices across the country.

Minnesota state FSA director Joe Martin says dairy farmers have less than two weeks to sign up for the Dairy Margin Coverage program.

“An important reminder for those in the program (too), you do need to sign a contract each year. So we need a lot of folks to come in by December 13th and sign up for your 2020 contract.”

He tells Brownfield for the first time in four years, general enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program will likely begin later this month.

“A good opportunity if you have some really unproductive farm ground you’ve been losing money on, and you can’t really figure out what to do with it. CRP might be a good option. We can pay about 85 percent of county land rents.”

And although ARC and PLC signup is several months away, Martin encourages producers to get familiar with changes stemming from the 2018 Farm Bill.

“March 15th. Circle that date on your calendar because you’ll need to make your ARC and PLC elections by that date.”

He says FSA offers some online decision tools to help crop farmers decide between ARC and PLC.

Brownfield interviewed Martin at the Minnesota Milk Dairy Conference and Expo at Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Welch Wednesday.