Mark Ritter Steele County Farm Service Agency Executive Director summed up our discussion in the County Farm Service Agency Report with one word, deadlines! Needless to say all county Farm Service Agency offices have been very busy! Here is a list of a few of the deadlines Mark talks about, crop certification, signing up for the Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIP) General CRP, reconstituting farms you may have picked up or quit farming, providing the Farm Service Agency with your production for 2020 if you signed up for ARC Individual and a few more!

Mark is concerned about the crop certification deadline of July 15, 2021. There are many farmers that have not yet requester their maps. I suspect that is the case in many other County Farm Service Agency offices. It is too late to have them send the maps in the mail. So, you can call ahead and then pick up the maps curb-side or they can be emailed to you which is what I did. Then you need to fill them out with what crop was planted and the date. When you return the maps county staff need to enter the data in their computer system, print the FSA-578 certification form for you to sign and return.

If you miss the deadline you can certify late but there is a charge for each farm because each one must be inspected by county staff. So, if you have not reported or certified your planted acres contact your Farm Service Agency office! Click on the link and listen to Mark explain all the different USDA program deadlines that are approaching soon!

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