Last Chance: Act Now to Update PLC Yields

By Clint Schroeder OSU Extension

Landowners or producers with a Power of Attorney for their landowner have until September 30, 2020 to update their Price Loss Coverage (PLC) yield, also referred to as farm yield, information on file with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA). PLC yields exist for each FSA farm number and commodity. This one-time opportunity to update yield information for covered commodities was a provision in the 2018 Farm Bill. The updated yields will be used to calculate payments under the PLC program for the 2020 through 2023 crop years if market prices trigger payments. PLC yields have also been used before in disaster relief programs. There is no guarantee that farmers will have this opportunity again under future farm bills. If a farm chooses to not update their yield info the existing yields for the farm will be used. Not all updated yields will produce a higher yield. In the case where the new calculated yield for a farm and commodity is lower than the existing yield, FSA will take the higher of the two.  Producers who are currently enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) should also consider updating their yields as the option to change program election exists within the current farm bill in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Yields will be updated by submitting FSA form CCC-867 for each farm number and covered commodity. Each completed form will need to include one signature of a farm owner. If the reported yield in any year is less than 75 percent of the 2013-2017 average county yield, the yield will be substituted with 75 percent of the county average yield. For more information please contact your local FSA office.

The FSA form CCC-867 can be found here

USDA Extends CFAP Deadline, Covers Additional Commodities

Producers can now apply for Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) assistance through Sept. 11.

USDA extended the deadline of the $16 billion COVID-19 relief package and announced additional commodities to be covered by the program this week.

Farmers who already applied and received assistance can also expect a final payment. While producers initially received 80% of their payments to ensure availability of funding, USDA said the Farm Service Agency (FSA) will now automatically issue the remaining 20% to those eligible. Going forward, approved CFAP applicants will receive 100% of their total payment.

USDA recommends producers, especially those who have not previously worked with FSA, call 877-508-8364 to start the application process. More info on CFAP and how to apply here.

Farm Science Review will be a Virtual show in 2020

By Sherrie R. Whaley Ohio State

For the first time in its nearly 60-year history, The Ohio State University’s Farm Science Review, scheduled for Sept. 22 to Sept. 24, will not be held in-person. Instead, a virtual show will be implemented for 2020.

The farm show, sponsored by Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), annually attracts over 100,000 visitors from all over the United States and Canada to the show site in London, Ohio.

A “robust and innovative” virtual Farm Science Review is being planned for 2020. (Photo courtesy of FSR)

“We are committed to delivering a robust and innovative virtual show in support of agriculture during this pandemic,” said Cathann A. Kress, vice president and dean of CFAES.

“Throughout its history, the Farm Science Review has been at the forefront of showcasing the future of agriculture,” she said. “While it may look different in 2020, we will continue to meet the needs of our growers and partners through access to exhibitors, virtual demonstrations, and education about the most recent advancements in agricultural production.” Continue reading

Water Quality Extension Associate Services in NW Ohio

By: Rachel Cochran, Brigitte Moneymaker, Jordan Beck, Nick Eckel, Matthew Romanko, Boden Fisher, OSU Extension

Our Goal

Our goal is to engage farmers and their trusted advisors in new production strategies, technologies, and best management practices to improve fertilizer use efficiency and farm profitability while promoting soil health and reducing nutrient and sediment losses within the western Lake Erie basin.

Through education, outreach, and demonstrations highlighting the benefits of practices we hope to encourage widespread practice adoption and sustained practice implementation.

What We Need Help With

  • Learning about the unique challenges that face area farmers.
  • Finding partners interested in adopting new technologies and conservation practices and understanding their potential water quality, soil health and agronomic benefits.
  • Identifying potential sites for on-farm applied research trials and case studies.

Continue reading

Ohio Department of Agriculture to Provide Online Pesticide Re-certification Opportunities

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (June 29, 2020) – During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), is partnering with the Ohio State University Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) to temporarily provide online recertification for pesticide applicators and fertilizer certificate holders whose licenses expired in spring of 2020. The online recertification will be available Monday, July 6. For commercial applicators, it will be available August 10. For more information or to register for the online recertification, visit pested.osu.edu/onlinerecert.

The online option allows private applicators and fertilizer certificate holders due for training by March 31, 2020 and commercial applicators due for training by September 30, 2020 to meet their continuing education requirements. The cost for online training is $35 for private applicators and $10 for fertilizer certification. The price per credit hour for commercial applicators is $15. If you don’t know your license number, please call ODA at 614-728-6987, choose option 1. Continue reading

Tax Value of Farmland Expected to Drop

There’s a bit of good news for Ohio farmers to counter the bad news caused by COVID-19, as well as by last year’s historic rain. In counties scheduled for property value updates in 2020—about half of Ohio’s 88 counties—the average value of farmland enrolled in the Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV) program should be about 40% lower than 2017–2019, or about $665 per acre.

That’s according to projections by researchers at The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).

The same projections say that in counties due for property value updates in 2021—another quarter of Ohio’s counties—average CAUV values should be about 25% less than 2018–2020, or about $760 per acre.

The declines should mean lower property taxes, on average, for most of the farmers in those counties.

The projections were published in a May report by postdoctoral researcher Robert Dinterman and Ani Katchova, associate professor and farm income enhancement chair, both of CFAES’ Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics.

“Less money paid in property tax will help reduce farmers’ costs and allow them to keep a greater share of the revenues they bring in,” Dinterman said. Continue reading

Farm Bill Meetings to be held across Ohio

Click here for complete article with locations of meetings

Ohio State University Extension and the USDA Farm Service Agency in Ohio are partnering to provide a series of educational Farm Bill meetings this winter to help producers make informed decisions related to enrollment in commodity programs.

The 2018 Farm Bill reauthorized the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) safety net programs that were in the 2014 Farm Bill. While the ARC and PLC programs under the new farm bill remain very similar to the previous farm bill, there are some changes that producers should be aware of.

Farm Bill meetings will review changes to the ARC/PLC programs as well as important dates and deadlines. Additionally, attendees will learn about decision tools and calculators available to help, which program best fits the needs of their farms under current market conditions and outlook.

Enrollment for 2019 is currently open with the deadline set as March 15, 2020. Enrollment for the 2020 crop year closes June 30, 2020. Producers can enroll for both 2019 and 2020 during the same visit to an FSA county office. Producers have the opportunity to elect to either ARC or PLC for the 2019 to 2023 crop years, with the option to change their program election in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

To find out about upcoming meetings, and get information about the Farm Bill, visit go.osu.edu/farmbill2019

Ohio CAUV Values Projected to Decline Through 2020

By OSU AEDE department

The Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) program allows farmland devoted exclusively to commercial agriculture to be taxed based on their value in agriculture, rather than the full market value, resulting in a substantially lower tax bill for the farmer.

The formula for CAUV values incorporates agricultural factors (soil types, yields, prices, and non-land costs for corn, soybeans, and wheat) to calculate the capitalized net returns to farming land based on the previous 5 to 10 years. CAUV underwent large-scale changes to its calculation in 2017 that was targeted to reduce the property tax burden of farmland.

A new report, Ohio CAUV Values Projected to Decline Through 2020, shows the projection of CAUV values though 2020. According to the study authors, OSU agricultural economists Robert Dinterman and Ani Katchova forecast a decrease in the assessed value of agricultural land to an average CAUV value of approximately $600 in 2020.

Access the full report at:

https://aede.osu.edu/sites/aede/files/publication_files/CAUVProjectionsFall2019.pdf

Ohio’s Proposed Hemp Rules Released

By Peggy Kirk Hall and Ellen Essman OSU Extension Ag Law

Ohio’s newly created hemp program is one step further toward getting off the ground.   On October 9, the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) released its anxiously awaited proposal of the rules that will regulate hemp production in Ohio.   ODA seeks public comments on the proposed regulations until October 30, 2019.

There are two parts to the rules package:  one rule for hemp cultivation and another for hemp processing.   Here’s an overview of the components of each rule:

1.  Hemp cultivation

The first rule addresses the “cultivation” of hemp, which means “to plant, water, grow, fertilize, till or havest a plant or crop.”  Cultivating also includes “possessing or storing a plant or crop on a premises whre the plant was cultivated until transported to the first point of sale.”  The proposal lays out the following regulatory process for those who wish to cultivate hemp in Ohio. Continue reading

FSA Program Overview for Fall 2019

By Clint Schroeder OSU Extension

With all of the challenges that Ohio farmers have faced this year it was sometimes easy for helpful information to get lost in the shuffle. There was rampant speculation about potential government intervention and expanding safety net coverage as farmers faced multiple hardships related to the weather, as well as, the ongoing trade dispute. Details of a new round of Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments were leaked in late May and some clarity was provided in early June. On July 25th there was an official announcement regarding payment rates and eligibility requirements. This program as well as potential disaster payments have dominated the news cycle over the summer and overshadowed many details regarding the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 that was signed last December. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 is commonly referred to as the Farm Bill and there are several programs within it. Grain producers are most likely to be interested in the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. Each of these programs are administered through the Farm Service Agency (FSA), but it is important to remember that they have different eligibility requirements and enrollment deadlines.

Continue reading