Hello Again!
April showers bring May flowers! And here we go again! Now that spring planting has slowly begun, many farmers are busy trying to get all of their crops planted by the final crop planting dates established by the Risk Management Agency.
If, by chance, Mother Nature does not cooperate, the Farm Service Agency encourages producers to report any prevented planting acreage or failed crop acreage that will not be brought to harvest to their local FSA office.
Failed acreage must be reported to FSA before destroying and replanting to allow time for a field check. It is very important that farmers report failed acreage that will not be brought to harvest to the FSA office prior to destruction. Prevented Planting is the inability to plant crop acreage with proper equipment during the established planting period for the crop due to a natural disaster condition.
Producers must be able to prove to the satisfaction of the FSA County Committee that they intended to plant the crop acreage and that the crop could not be planted because of a natural disaster.
Prevented Planting acreage should be reported as soon as possible after the ending planting date but not later than 15 calendar days after the Risk Management Agency (RMA) established final plant date for the crop.
RMA Final Plant dates for the 2013 crop year are:
Crop RMA plant date
Wheat Oct. 20, 2012
Barley Oct. 20, 2012
Oats April 25, 2013
Corn June 5, 2013
Soybeans June 20, 2013
*Final plant dates may differ from county to county. Please check with your local FSA office for specific dates for your county.
Form CCC-576, Notice of Loss, is used to report failed and prevented planting acreage and may be completed by any producer with an interest in the crop. Producers with crop losses covered by the Non-insured Assistance Program (NAP) must contact their local FSA office within 15 days of the occurrence of the disaster or when losses become apparent.
Producers with crop insurance coverage should contact FSA and their local insurance agent when losses occur and before destroying the crop.
Crops not covered with crop insurance or a NAP policy should still be reported to the local FSA office. This will provide FSA with a historical record of your crop.
Also, producers are encouraged to keep good production records on acreage with a low crop yield to document crop losses.
Additional information on prevented planting, failed crop acreage, or crop losses covered by NAP can be obtained by contacting your local FSA office. FSA program information is also available online at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov.
Be careful out there and have a safe planting season.
