COLUMBUS — Due to Ohio’s weather creating delays in planting, the Ohio Farm Service Agency is extending the date to report prevented planting to July 15, to coincide with the crop reporting deadline.
With the extension, farmers will be able to file form CCC-576, Notice of Loss, for prevented planting of corn and soybeans at the same time as filing annual acreage reports, which are also due by July 15th, according to Steve Maurer, state executive director.
Prevented planting acreage reporting includes crops covered by crop insurance or the Non-insured Assistance Program (NAP) and crops without insurance coverage.
ACRE extension
The Farm Service Agency is also extending the deadline to submit 2010 Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) production reports for planted acres to Sept. 1, 2011.
Producers are reminded to file an FSA-578, Report of Acreage, certification for the farm by June 30 for small grains and by July 15 for all other crops.
Call local office
Producers should contact their local FSA office or crop insurance agent to verify final planting dates for all crops since they vary among counties and crop types.
For crop losses on crops covered by the Non-insured Assistance Program (NAP), producers must contact their local FSA office within 15 days of the occurrence of the disaster or when losses become apparent to file a Notice of Loss.
Producers with crop insurance should contact their local agent when losses occur and before destroying the crop.
If a producer misses the reporting deadline for prevented planting, they may still report prevented planting acreage as long as the disaster condition may be verified by a paid for field visit.
If the acreage was timely reported to insurance and supports the crop information reported to FSA, the fee may be waived.
This crop insurance exception does not apply to NAP.
‘Failed’ acreage
A Notice of Loss must also be filed on failed crop acreage that will not be brought to harvest, 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,” said Maurer.
This could be the determining factor in whether or not a farmer is eligible for future crop disaster program payments, he added.
Although low yield acreage does not need to be reported to FSA, producers are encouraged to keep good production records on acreage with a low crop yield to document crop losses.
