Where would a person go who is new to farming and wants to learn about types of state and federal programs available to them? One place to look is the USDA Service Center in your county. Karen Stillings the Polk County Executive Director for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) explained the functions of the Service Center and what it has to offer for producers.
Within the Service Center are several offices that are strategically located to help producers find a number of services easily. Stilling’s office oversees the federal farm programs that are enacted by Farm Bill legislation. They are presently operating under the 2008 Farm Bill’s five-year programs that are currently expiring. Congress has to review and write a new Farm Bill this year. Those types of programs include conservation related programs, Farm Storage Facilities Loan Program for certain commodities such as hay and grain, crop related programs, milk, price support and disaster programs including crop and pasture catastrophic type “insurance.”
County FSA offices oversee the aerial maps of farms in the county. These are now located within GIS software. They also track all USDA farm ownership records. They have crop records and report acreage and planting of all crops. They also maintain the reports and record keeping for all of the USDA federal farm programs that require producers to report each year. Each year producers have to certify their crops, their acreage, their losses, etc., and report to the FSA office. Keeping these records accurate ensure that the programs run smoothly.
The Service center also houses the Federal Farm Loan program which offers a variety of farm ownership and operating loans for agriculture production. They offer farm loans for real estate, operations and livestock.
The Service Center additionally includes the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) which is operated by Bob Howe who is the District Conservationist for Polk and Dallas County. This office works closely with the State Soil and Water Conservation District offering a variety of programs such as their Grazing Schools. After completing the school, participants can sign up for the program and receive cost share to help them install electric fences for paddocks, watering systems and a variety of other measures utilized within the rotational grazing program.
Stilling explained the benefits of FSA eAlerts, a new way to receive FSA program reminders via email that has been established within the USDA. It will enable their offices to communicate on a more regular basis to all producers. Presently they are unable to mail out newsletters on a regular basis due to budget restrictions. There is no doubt as budget constraints get tighter that mailing will be more difficult and keeping producers up-to-date via email is the best way to keep them abreast of approaching program deadlines, program information, sign-up dates and new program information. Moving to electronic notification will help to conserve resources and save taxpayer dollars as well. The FSA is trying to work smarter to be more efficient. Stilling encouraged producers to get on board to receive their up-to-date information and stay informed. Contact your local FSA office to learn more about the programs available for your farm.
