Statewide Iowa — If you’re a farmer or an agriculture landowner, you’re probably busy. But here’s a reminder that busy farmers and landowners need to keep in mind. If you haven’t yet certified your acres — your time is almost up.
According to the USDA, agricultural producers who have not yet completed their crop acreage reports after planting should make an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) service center before the applicable deadline. July 15th — this Friday — is a major deadline for most crops, but acreage reporting deadlines vary by county and by crop. Producers should make an appointment as soon as possible to avoid missing earlier deadlines.
FSA officials remind us that in order to be eligible for many programs, including disaster assistance, you will need an acreage report on file. To ensure you can benefit from FSA programs, they ask you to call your local FSA office to make an appointment to report your acreage if you haven’t done so already. As a reminder, perennial forage is eligible for continuous acreage reporting, which allows producers to report their acreage once and keep their certification in place until they make a change.
They also tell us that continuous acreage reporting provides an opportunity to substantially streamline producers’ applications for assistance. With protracted drought conditions across the Great Plains and the Western United States, producers who had previously filed a continuous acreage report benefitted from a streamlined application process for disaster programs like the Livestock Forage Disaster Program. Officials encourage producers to continue taking advantage of this tool and simplify their ability to apply for assistance.
An acreage report documents a crop grown on a farm or ranch and its intended uses. Filing an accurate and timely acreage report for all crops and land uses, including failed acreage and prevented planted acreage, can prevent the loss of program benefits.
For more information, click here, or call your local county FSA office soon.
