Winter Wheat Acreage Reports Due by Dec. 15
Dec. 15 is the final date to file an acreage report certifying all acreage of fall seeded crops like wheat and oats.
USDA benefits, if there are any, will not be available if the fall seeded crops are not timely reported. In years past, many farmers and landowners failed to certify by the December deadline and were forced to file a late-filed acreage report and pay a fee to make their wheat crop eligible for a loan or other USDA benefits.
In addition, the current Farm Bill requires every participant to certify all cropland on a farm to be eligible to receive any benefits. This includes any winter wheat crop that will be doublecropped by planting soybeans next summer after the wheat is harvested. There is no need to file a zero-acreage report for wheat or oats, if none are planted this year.
For all crops of wheat to be eligible for a loan or LDP, the producer must also follow Highly Erodible and Wetland Conservation requirements of the Farm Bill.
For more information on wheat acreage reports or any Farm Service Agency programs, call the Tallahatchie County FSA office at 662-647-8857, ext. 2, before Dec. 15.
The last several years, it has become important to also report by Dec. 15, any fall seeded cover crops that a farmer may planted.
Crop insurance has credited producers with an acreage refund on next year’s crop insurance premiums for anyone who reports their cover crops to FSA. We do not know if that offer will be available this year or not, but it does not cost a thing to report cover crops to FSA timely.
It is the time of year to update records. If you have bought or sold land, leased new acreage or dropped a lease on acreage, please contact FSA to let us know so we can update our records.
Also, if you move and change your mailing address, change your email address or your phone number, or, most importantly, if you change your bank account, be sure to contact FSA so we can update your contact info and help keep you informed of FSA programs and benefits.
It is also the time of year to look at restructuring your farming operation, or your farms. The FSA term for restructuring a farm or ownership tract is reconstitution.
This the best time of the year for reconstitutions. The crop year has ended and there is time to change before next season.
FSA can combine land you have recently purchased or split out land from your farm if you have recently sold or divided the ownership on the property.
We can get all the records updated with the new farms and tracts and print new aerial photos. Basically, FSA can get everything ready for the upcoming 2023 crop year.
