Agricultural News
FSA Leader on Final Day to Adjust Base Acres, Farm Bill Roll Out
Thu, 26 Feb 2015 17:31:04 CST
Implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill is making progress. USDA has seen a steady increase in foot traffic in recent weeks all over the country. Farmers have until Friday to make any changes with their acreage reallocation or to update yields. Farm Service Agency Administrator Val Dolcini said there has been intense amount of interest from Oklahoma and other parts of the country in making those changes. If landowners are unable to meet Friday's deadline, he said they need to contact their local FSA office, so they can placed on a list. Then FSA staff will work to get through the backlog, he said this allows farmers to make an appointment to make those changes.
Farmers have just over a month to make their farm safety net decision in choosing between Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) programs. With about five weeks to go until the March 31st deadline, Dolcini said that gives farmers time to make that decision, but USDA will be monitoring the enrollment process. If USDA feels more time is needed, they could use a register for that as well. Dolcini said when they get closer to the deadline they will determine if an extension is needed.
At the Commodity Classic in Phoenix, Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays interviewed Dolcini. Click or tap on the LISTENBAR below to listen to the full interview.
In talking with farmers, Hays said he is hearing that some are having a hard time grasping the technology in making a good decision about the farm safety net programs. Dolcini responded by reiterating that USDA and several land grant institutions have made developed several web-based decision tools and USDA has hosted thousands of meetings around the nation.
"So there are a number of ways we are providing information to our customers around the nation," Dolcini said. "Some prefer the privacy of their own office to look at the website and see what the resources are there and others like to engage in a more interactive meeting process, so we are trying to address all levels of technological sophistication and interest in these programs."
The 2014 Farm Bill included funding for producer education in working with land grant institutions. Dolcini said that partnership has worked well. The farm safety net web-based decision tool developed by Texas A & M University and the University of Illinois has been viewed almost 200 thousand times. USDA has also worked with 65 land grant universities. Dolcini said they have been helpful in having public meetings with FSA. He said the partnership has really been great and he believes they will use that model to spread the news for other USDA programs in the future.
Besides the enrolling people into the farm safety net, FSA has been enrolling producers into the Livestock forage program, the Dairy Margin Protection Program (DMPP) and Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), which offers farmers a low-cost crop insurance for specialty crops.
In implementing the 2014 Farm Law, Dolcini said he hasn't seen any major issues with how the policy was written. He said the policy has been fairly prescriptive in some areas and more open to interpretation in other areas. Overall, he said the implementation of the Farm Bill has gone fairly well.
"This is different from past Farm Bills, it really requires farmers to be a lot more involved in the decision making, around which program is best for their operation," Dolcini said. "Between our aide and the assistance that they get from land grants and other groups, I think they are to the point where they can make good thoughtful decisions."
USDA has been working on refreshing the agency's technology of both hardware and software. With some funding allocated through the 2014 Farm Bill that has helped update technology. FSA has just completed work on the Midas computer program, which focuses on customer records with an estimated 11 million separate customer records. Earlier in the year, FSA also rolled out Farm Records, which contains 40 million pieces of information about farm fields, tracts, etc. Dolcini said FSA has deployed some good technology around the field to help make this process is easier for both farmers and the staff members that serve them.
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