IARN — A new year is on the horizon and farmers in Iowa are encouraged to check in with their local Farm Service Agency office.
Lynette Gruchow is FSA executive director in Pottawattamie County. She says farmers need to be updating their local office about any changes to their operation over the past year.
“Changes that may affect the determination include a change in contract share, the addition or deletion of a farm, change in the structure of your farming operation like an individual becoming a corporation or a trust, changes in your contributions or inputs, changes in farming interests or the death of the member of an entity,” said Gruchow. “Also, please let us know of any operator changes or buying or selling of land that you’ve done for the 2020 crop year, so that we can get these updates completed as well.”
Gruchow says farmers that have land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program should speak with FSA before making any changes or improvements to the land.
“Contact should be made to the service center prior to any land clearing or drainage projects to ensure compliance,” said Gruchow. “Contacting your service center prior to taking any actions can save you time and money later, as these type of violations can be very costly. Along those same lines, if you’re going to be farming ground this upcoming year that was CRP in the past and is highly erodible land, you’ll want to make sure that there is a conservation plan in place and that you’re following that plan.”
Gruchow adds producers are required to maintain CRP land according to the conservation plan on file with the USDA.
“CRP cover maintenance is the producer’s responsibility,” said Gruchow. “Participants shall maintain their CRP practices according to their conservation plan. This includes maintaining adequate cover to control erosion for the term of the CRP contract, maintaining compliance with noxious weed laws and controlling undesirable vegetation such as weeds and trees that pose a threat to existing cover or adversely impact other landowners in the area.”
For more information or to find the contact information for your local FSA office, fsa.usda.gov.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
