FSA acreage reporting deadline extended

Risk management deadline unchanged

[July 17, 2013]  SPRINGFIELD -- The USDA Farm Service Agency in Illinois has announced an extension of the FSA acreage reporting deadline. Farmers and landowners have an additional 18 calendar days to submit their annual report of acreage to their local FSA county office, with the deadline extended from July 15 to Aug. 2. Only the FSA reporting deadline has been extended. The acreage reporting requirement for crop insurance was not changed and remained as July 15.

"We want to ensure our producers maintain their program benefits by filing their reports accurately and in a timely manner for all crops and land uses, including prevented and failed acreage," said Scherrie V. Giamanco, FSA state executive director.

Accurate acreage reports are necessary to determine and maintain eligibility for various programs, such as the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program, known as DCP; the Average Crop Revenue Election Program, or ACRE; the Conservation Reserve Program, CRP; and the Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, NAR.

Acreage reports for FSA are considered timely this year when filed at the county office by the new applicable final crop reporting deadline of Aug. 2. Producers should contact their county FSA office if they are uncertain about reporting deadlines.

While FSA is able to extend its deadline, Brian Frieden, director of the Springfield office of the Risk Management Agency, emphasized that RMA’s acreage reporting date was still on Monday for most spring-planted crops in the country.

Farmers are reminded to report any loss to their insurance company within 72 hours of discovery. Farmers must report prevented planting acreage in writing to their insurance company within 15 calendar days after the final planting date. Losses must be reported, and an insurance adjuster must view and release the crop before the crop is destroyed. Farmers are also reminded to contact their insurance agent if they have any questions about coverage, prevented planting, or for reporting and processing a claim.

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. Contact a local crop insurance agent for more information about the program. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers or on the RMA website at www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agents.

Producers also should visit their USDA Service Center to complete acreage reporting for FSA. For questions on this or any FSA program, producers should contact their FSA county office or seek information online at www.fsa.usda.gov.

[Text from file received from Illinois Farm Service Agency]