Farm Service Agency News by David Groner
July 15, 2021, was the final acreage reporting date for 2021 for all row crops, pastures and CRP acreage.
Any producer who did not file a 2021 acreage report to FSA can late-file an acreage report with a verification fee.
Most USDA farm programs administered by FSA require a timely filed acreage report fully certifying all crops and land uses on each farm. This includes row crops and pasture for livestock. The catch is the evidence of the crop must still be in the field and as crops are harvested the ability to report a crop or land use will be limited.
Hemp acreage reports are required by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) branch of USDA, the federal agency tasked with overseeing commercial hemp production. All hemp acreage reports require a hemp license issued by the state. FSA’s role in the process is to accept hemp acreage reports as required by AMS. This is the first year in Mississippi that production of commercial hemp for processing as fiber or CBD oil has been allowed. THC content will be monitored and may not exceed a limit established by legal guidelines.
Earlier, I notified all CRP participants with grass covers that the time to clip your CRP grass cover is here. The non-disturbance period ended Aug. 15 and will not start up again until April 1, 2022. Don’t miss out on this important time to maintain your grass cover, as it only takes one year of not clipping the grass for you to get young gum trees and other volunteer hardwood species starting to break through the grass and take over.
It is also the beginning of the period each year, that pine tree stands can be thinned or other maintenance activities like control burn or chemical control of undesirables underneath the pines can be conducted.
The latest installment of pandemic relief from the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act passed in March is for eligible hog and poultry producers that lost livestock sales due to insufficient processing access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible animals are those that were destroyed due to lack of demand from commercial processors. Sign-up for this ends Oct. 12, 2021. Cattle and other livestock are not eligible for this program. Contract chicken growers are also covered in this relief.
Oct. 15, 2021, is also the end of the pandemic relief sign-up for timber harvesters and haulers who lost income from the pandemic between 2019 and 2020.
