Fall seeded crop acreage reports are due by Dec. 15.
This is the last call for reporting wheat, oats and fall planted cover crops. Dec. 15 is the final date to file an acreage report certifying all acreage of fall seeded crops like wheat, oats and ryegrass. It is also the final date to report any winter cover crops planted this fall.
Wheat and oats are often planted just as a cover crop and not harvested as grain. Other crops like cereal rye and legumes (vetch or clover) and tillage radishes are planted strictly as winter cover crops. Any of these crops may be planted as a winter cover crop to help with soil erosion, weed control and carbon sequestration in the soil. Plus, there are many other agronomic and environmental reasons to plant cover crops, as the trend has seen a resurgence lately.
Wheat or oats for harvest as grain should always be reported to FSA. However, reporting cover crops is strictly voluntary. The 2021 pandemic assistance relief bill included a provision to allow Risk Management Agency, which administers federal crop insurance, to give a crop insurance premium discount to any producer that planted a cover crop and reported the acres to FSA. In 2022, Tallahatchie County FSA had over 8,500 acres of 2022 cover crops reported before the FSA deadline of Dec. 15.
It is my understanding that RMA has no way of knowing if it will offer this premium discount benefit again for 2023. Some are saying the funding provided in 2021 to allow RMA to do this has been exhausted. I do not know. If a producer has planted a winter cover crop this fall and he, or she, wants to voluntarily report the acreage timely to FSA, Dec 15 is the deadline
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 or oat crop that might be double-cropped by planting soybeans or another crop next summer after the wheat is harvested. Cover crops reported are not considered row crops for harvest and, therefore, have no effect on FSA program acreage reporting requirements.
For all crops of wheat or oats to be eligible for a commodity loan or LDP from FSA, the producer must also follow Highly Erodible and Wetland Conservation requirements of the current farm bill. For more information on wheat and other fall seeded crop acreage reports, call the Tallahatchie County FSA office at 662-647-8857, ext. 2., before Dec. 15, 2022.
The weather this fall has been ideal for planting fall seeded crops. Nov. 30 was the ending planting date established by crop insurance to plant wheat or oats. Anyone planting these crops for harvest should report acreage to FSA and their private crop insurance agent by Dec. 15. This includes any of these crops planted after Nov. 30 but during the RMA established late planting period.
