SAVE TIME – MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH FSA As we roll out the Farm Bill programs administered by FSA, there will be related signups and in some cases multiple management decisions that need to be made by you, the producer, in consult with FSA staff. To insure maximum use of your time and to insure that you are afforded our full attention to your important business needs, please call the Ingham/Livingston FSA Service Center at 517-676-4644 to set an appointment. Have you bought or sold land, or added or dropped rented land from your operation? If so, please let us know when making your appointment so that we may discuss documentation you will need to bring with you. Failure to do so can lead to possible program ineligibility and penalties. For a listing of local FSA Service Center contact information, please visit: http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app. LIVINGSTON AND INGHAM COUNTY ARE ELIGIBLE FOR EMERGENCY LOANS Ingham and Livingston Counties have been declared Contiguous Disaster Counties due to physical damage and losses caused by excessive rain, flash flooding, high winds, hail, lightning, and tornado like conditions that occured from April 12, 2014 through April 15th, 2014. Using the streamlined Secretarial Disaster Designation process allows for producers with operations in any primary or contiguous county to be eligible to apply for low interest emergency loans. Emergency loans help producers recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding and other natural disasters or quarantine. Producers with severe physical losses have until January 5th, 2015 to apply for emergency loan assistance under this designation. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. Producers can borrow up to 100 percent of actual production or physical losses, to a maximum amount of $500,000. For more information about emergency loans, please contact your local FSA office or visit www.fsa.usda.gov. LOANS FOR THE SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FSA has a number of loan programs available to assist applicants to begin or continue in agriculture production. Loans are available for operating type loans and/or purchase or improve farms or ranches. While all qualified producers are eligible to apply for these loan programs, the FSA has provided priority funding for members of socially disadvantaged applicants. A socially disadvantaged applicant is one of a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic or gender prejudice because of his or her identity as members of the group without regard to his or her individual qualities. For purposes of this program, socially disadvantaged groups are women, African Americans, American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. FSA loans are only available to applicants who meet all the eligibility requirements and are unable to obtain the needed credit elsewhere. USDA AWARDING $6 MILLION TO PREPARE FARMERS FOR NEW FARM BILL PROGRAMS USDA is awarding $6 million to universities and cooperative state extension services to develop online decision tools and other materials and train experts to educate producers about several key farm bill programs. The new Web tools will help farmers and ranchers determine what participation in programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill will mean for their businesses. The University of Illinois (lead for the National Coalition for Producer Education), along with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri and the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M (co-leads for the National Association of Agricultural and Food Policy), will receive a total of $3 million to develop the new online tools and train state-based extension agents who can in turn help educate farmers. The new resources will help farmers and ranchers make an educated choice between the new Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. Using the new online tools, producers will be able to use data unique to their specific farming operations combined with factors like the geographical diversity of crops, soils, weather and climates across the country to test a variety of financial scenarios before officially signing up for the new program options later this year. Once a producer enrolls in the ARC or PLC program, he or she must remain in the program through the 2018 crop year. New tools will be provided for other programs as well. Sign-up for the newly established Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP) begins late this summer and enrollment for "buy-up" provisions under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) will begin early next year. An online MPP tool will be available when sign up begins and the NAP buy-up provision resource will become available to producers in the fall for the 2015 crop year. USDA will also award $3 million to state cooperative extension services—a nationwide network of experts based at land-grant universities—for outreach and education on the new Farm Bill programs. Funds will be used to conduct public education outreach meetings where producers can speak with local extension agents and Farm Service Agency (FSA) staff. Outreach meetings will begin late this summer to help farmers and ranchers understand the new programs and their options. While universities work to create new online tools, producers now have access to a preliminary website that gives them a chance to begin familiarizing themselves with the new programs and the type of information they will need to consider when deciding which program options work better for them. At this site, farmers and ranchers can view ARC and PLC projected payments, ARC guarantees, and PLC payment rate projections. These tables are available on the FSA website.
Visit www.fsa.usda.gov or the local FSA office for information about FSA and the 2014 Farm Bill programs. FSA SIGNATURE POLICY Using the correct signature when doing business with FSA can save time and prevent a delay in program benefits. The following are FSA signature guidelines:
* Spouses may sign documents on behalf of each other for FSA and CCC programs in which either has an interest, unless written notification denying a spouse this authority has been provided to the county office * Spouses shall not sign on behalf of each other as an authorized signatory for partnerships, joint ventures, corporations, or other similar entities * Spouces must have a power of attorney on file or sign personally for claim settlements, such as promissory notes. For additional clarification on proper signatures contact your local FSA office. SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS Special accommodations will be made upon request for individuals with disabilities, vision impairment or hearing impairment. If accommodations are required, individuals should contact the county FSA office staff directly or by phone. HIGHLY ERODIBLE LAND AND WETLAND COMPLIANCE Landowners and operators are reminded that in order to receive payments from USDA, they must be compliant with Highly Erodible Land (HEL) and Wetland Conservation (WC) provisions. Farmers with HEL determined soils must apply tillage, crop residue and rotation requirements as specified in their conservation plan. Producers should notify FSA prior to conducting land clearing or drainage projects to ensure compliance. If you intend to clear any trees to create new cropland, these areas will need to be reviewed to ensure any work will not jeopardize your eligibility for benefits. Landowners and operators can complete form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification to determine whether a referral to Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is necessary. For more information on Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions, contact an FSA County Office or visit the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov. FARM RECONSTITUTIONS When changes in farm ownership or operation take place, a farm reconstitution is necessary. The reconstitution — or recon — is the process of combining or dividing farms or tracts of land based on the farming operation.
The following are the different methods used when doing a farm recon: Estate Method — the division of bases, allotments and quotas for a parent farm among heirs in settling an estate; Designation of Landowner Method — may be used when (1) part of a farm is sold or ownership is transferred; (2) an entire farm is sold to two or more persons; (3) farm ownership is transferred to two or more persons; (4) part of a tract is sold or ownership is transferred; (5) a tract is sold to two or more persons; or (6) tract ownership is transferred to two or more persons. In order to use this method the land sold must have been owned for at least three years, or a waiver granted, and the buyer and seller must sign a Memorandum of Understanding;
DCP Cropland Method — the division of bases in the same proportion that the DCP cropland for each resulting tract relates to the DCP cropland on the parent tract;
Default Method — the division of bases for a parent farm with each tract maintaining the bases attributed to the tract level when the reconstitution is initiated in the system. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay),
(866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users). | 
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