May 13, 2020
By:
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Donny Green in DeKalb and Cannon counties reminds producers to report planted, prevented planted, and failed acres to establish or retain FSA program eligibility.
For planted crops, the following acreage reporting dates are applicable for DeKalb and Cannon counties:
May 31: nursery (field grown and container)
July 15: corn, soybeans, cucumbers, okra, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, strawberries,
tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes, and perennial forage (hay and pasture)
August 15: green beans, hemp
December 15: fall-seeded small grains (wheat)
The following exceptions apply to the above acreage reporting dates:
• The COVID-19 pandemic is posing challenges for 2020 crop year acreage reporting. As a result, any crop that has an acreage reporting date before August 1, 2020 will be considered timely filed if filed within 30 days of the acreage reporting date (listed above).
• If the crop has not been planted by the above acreage reporting date, the acreage must be reported no later than 15 calendar days after planting is completed.
• If a producer acquires additional acreage after the above acreage reporting date, the acreage must be reported no later than 30 calendars days after purchase or acquiring the lease. Appropriate documentation must be provided to the county office.
• If a perennial forage crop is reported with the intended use of “cover only,” “green manure,” “left standing” or “seed,” the acreage must be reported by July 15, 2020.
Producers must report crop acreage they intended to plant but, due to natural disaster, were prevented from planting. Prevented planting acreage must be reported on form FSA-576, Notice of Loss, no later than 15 calendar days after the final planting date, as established by FSA and the Risk Management Agency. According to Green, the final planting date for corn is May 20, 2020 and the final planting date for soybeans is June 15, 2020.
Producers with failed acres should also use form FSA-576, Notice of Loss, to report failed acres. For losses on crops covered by the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program and crop insurance, producers must file a Notice of Loss within 15 days of the occurrence of the disaster or when losses become apparent. Producers must timely file a Notice of Loss for failed acres on all crops including grasses.
Please contact the DeKalb/Cannon County FSA office at 615-597-8225 to schedule an appointment to file a Notice of Loss. To find your local FSA office, visit http://offices.usda.gov.
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