All 2021 final ARC/PLC payments have been disbursed in Tallahatchie County.
The latest and final round of 2021 ARC/PLC payments were released on Nov. 4. In Tallahatchie County, this included only the 2021 rice PLC payment. Basically, the final 2021 rice PLC payment was about 1/3 of the 2020 rice PLC payment — the lowest one under this farm bill and the lowest one since 2014, when the ARC/PLC program started. So, in the end, for 2021 safety net programs, only two crops received any additional compensation due to low marketing year prices, peanuts and rice.
It is time to certify wheat and/or any other fall seeded cover crops. If you have planted some fall seeded crop like wheat or a fall seeded cover crop, Dec 15 is the final date to report those crops to FSA. Reporting cover crops is entirely voluntary.
The 2021 Pandemic Assistance bill provided the opportunity for producers who planted a fall seeded cover crop to report those acres timely to FSA and receive a benefit of a reduction of their 2021 and 2022 Federal Crop Insurance premium. Until that legislation, there were no incentives for producers to report fall seeded cover crops to FSA. This year, no one knows yet if the same premium reductions will apply in 2023, as it applied in the prior two years. However, by the time we know, it may be too late to report cover crops to FSA, regardless of what deadline is established by RMA for crop insurance premium reduction credit. If you have fall seeded cover crops planted, it may be to your benefit to report those acres to FSA this fall.
Report any changes to FSA this winter. If you change anything — farms you lease or own, bank accounts for direct deposits, address, phone numbers or email addresses — report these changes to FSA. It is the only way we have of keeping up with you to know where to send things and how to contact you.
On the FSA County Committee election front, most eligible voters in Local Administrative Area 3, that covers the east delta part of the county, plus the Brazil area, should have received election ballots around Nov. 10. If anyone that owns or operates a farm or works as a tenant on a farm in the LAA 3 area (between the hills and the Tallahatchie River) did not receive an election ballot by mid-November, contact the county office and we can furnish one. Voters should mark the box for only one of the nominees in LAA 3 and mail the ballot back to FSA by Monday, Dec. 5, 2022.
The staff of the Tallahatchie County USDA Service Center would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
