​2024 will mark the thirty-fourth anniversary of political candidate forums at Farmfest. In every even numbered year since 1990, Minnesota Farmfest has featured candidate forums for the Minnesota primary election races for Governor, U.S. Senate, and Congressional seats. Over the years, these candidate forums have been very interesting and at times have helped give some direction to certain political campaigns. The timing of the forums is very important, as Farmfest is always held during the first full week of August, meaning that the forums usually occur the week before the Minnesota primary election on the second Tuesday of August. The Farmfest candidate forums have become a “must participate” event over the years for major political candidates of all parties for Governor, U.S. Senate, and Congressional seats.
 
Three candidate forums are scheduled during Farmfest in 2024 on August 6, 7 and 8 at the Gillfillan Estate near Redwood Falls, Minn. Several other interesting forums on timely agricultural topics have also been planned during the three-day event. Farmfest is coordinated by IDEAg Group, LLC, a subsidiary of American Farm Bureau Federation.
Tuesday, Aug. 6 will feature two “Congressional Candidate Forums” in the Wick Buildings Farmfest Center. The candidates in Minnesota’s first and second congressional districts will participate in a Congressional Candidate Forum on Tuesday, August 6, at 10:30 a.m. A second Congressional Candidate Forum will be held that same day at 1:15 p.m. for the candidates in Minnesota’s sixth, seventh and eighth congressional districts. All of the current members of Congress in those congressional districts and several of their challengers will be participating in these forums.
 
A special “U.S. Senate Candidate Forum” will be held on Wednesday, August 7, at 10:30 a.m. in the Wick Buildings Farmfest Center, featuring U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and several other candidates for U.S. Senate in Minnesota. The candidate forums are sponsored by Minnesota Farm Bureau.
 
The focus and subject matter for the candidate forums has always been on agriculture and rural issues. Questions will be asked by moderators that work in ag media, based on input received from leaders in various agriculture and rural organizations. Following are the key topics that this year’s candidate forums will focus on:

• Passing a New Farm Bill

Ø  Upgrades needed in the farm “safety-net” programs in the Farm Bill.
Ø  Protecting conservation programs and funding in the Farm Bill.
Ø  Appropriate adjustments, if any, to food and nutrition programs.
Ø  Livestock, trade, rural development, research, and other Farm Bill titles.
Ø  The likelihood of passing a New Farm Bill by the end of 2024 ?

• Renewable Energy

Ø  Where do ethanol and renewable diesel fuel fit into long-term U.S. energy policy ?
Ø  Changes needed in the GREET model for sustainable aviation fuel.

• Other Topics

Ø  Disaster assistance for 2024 weather-related issues on farms and ranches.
Ø  Carbon sequestration efforts and “climate-smart” agriculture initiatives in the ag industry.
Ø  Balancing immigration policy with the labor shortages in ag production and processing.
Ø  WOTUS, feedlot regulations, proposition 12, and other federal regulatory issues.  
Ø  Assisting new and emerging farmers and start-up agri-businesses.
 
Another highlight in the Wick Buildings Farmfest Center will be a forum titled: “Farm Bill Fatigue …... Will Congress Pass a Farm Bill ?” on Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 1:30 p.m. Minnesota Senator Tina Smith, who serves on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, will be joined on the panel by five national ag organization leaders. The panel will include four Presidents of national agricultural organizations, including Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau President, Rob Larew, National Farmers Union President, Harold Wolle, National Corn Growers Council President, and Lori Stevermer, National Pork Producers Council President, as well as George Goblish, American Soybean Growers Association Board Member.
 
Critical ag industry and economic sessions will kick-start the programming each morning in the Wick Buildings Farmfest Center. On Tuesday, August 6 at 9:30 a.m. a forum titled: “Tips for Surviving in a Down Ag Economy” will be held. This forum will feature Bob Craven from the University of Minnesota Center for Farm Financial Management, Bernt Nelson, American Farm Bureau Economist, and Todd Stencel, South Central College Farm Business Management Instructor.
 
The Farmfest “Ag Outlook Forum” is scheduled for Wednesday, August 7 at 9:00 am, featuring a top-notch list of presenters. The event will kick-off with comments by Xochiti Torres Small, USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. The Outlook Forum will feature short presentations by Robert Bonnie, USDA Undersecretary of Agriculture, Thom Peterson, Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture, Ryan Yates, Managing Director of Government Affairs with American Farm Bureau, Brian Werner, Minnesota Biofuels Director, Mark Schultz, Grain Marketing Analyst with Northstar Commodities, and John Zimmerman, Chairman of the National Turkey Federation.
 
Thursday, August 8 will feature events recognizing farm families and women farmers in the Wick Building Farmfest Center. The 2024 Farmfest “Women in Ag Event” will be held at 10:45 a.m., which will include recognizing the “2024 Farmfest Woman Farmer of the Year”. The University of Minnesota “Farm Family of the Year” program, which will be held at 1:15 p.m. on August 8, will recognize over 80 county farm families of the year from throughout Minnesota. Earlier that same day, the University of Minnesota will host a “Manure Applicator Certification Program”, starting at 8:00 a.m.
 
The Livestock Tent, located near the north end of the Farmfest site, will host some very timely panel discussions on the first two days of the event. The focus on Tuesday, August 6 at 11:15 a.m. will be an update on the outbreak and management of the H5N1 (highly pathogenic avian influenza) in the U.S. and Minnesota. Panel members will include Brian Hoefs, State Veterinarian with the MN Board of Animal Health, Thom Peterson, MN Commissioner of Agriculture, Lucas Sjostrom, Executive Director of MN Milk, and Bernt Nelson, with American Farm Bureau.
 
Proposition 12, proposed changes to Minnesota feedlot regulations, and other livestock policy issues will be the focus of the forum in the Livestock Tent on Wednesday, August 7 at 11:15 a.m. Panel members include Dan Glessing, MN Farm Bureau President, Mike Landuyt, Past President of the MN State Cattleman’s Assn., Lauren Servick, Pubic Policy Director with MN Pork, and Ryan Yates, with American Farm Bureau. Cattlemen and women are also invited to obtain their Beef Quality Assurance Certification during a session in the Livestock Tent on Thursday, August 8 at 10:00 a.m., which is being presented by the Minnesota Beef Council.
 
For more information on the Farmfest forum panels, livestreaming of the forums, Farmfest exhibitors, food vendors, and other information, visit www.farmfest.com. For more details on speakers or content in the Farmfest forums, contact Kent Thiesse, Farmfest Forum Coordinator at (507) 381-7960.
Note - For additional information contact Kent Thiesse, Farm Management Analyst, Green Solutions
Phone - (507) 381-7960; E-mail - [email protected] 

​The excessive rainfall and flooding during June in many portions of the Upper Midwest have created some interesting and in some cases very difficult decisions for several farm operators across the region. A widespread area of Southern Minnesota, Northern Iowa and Eastern South Dakota received 12-16 inches of rain or more during the month of June, which followed more than double the normal precipitation in May. This resulted in flash flooding near rivers and streams and an immense amount of standing water in many areas. The result has been considerable drown-out damage to crops and shallow root systems for crops, as well as loss of nitrogen and other nutrients for the corn crop.
 
By early July, fields in many areas for farmers to potentially consider replanting some early maturing varieties of soybeans into some of the drown-out areas. Most of the replanting occurred into existing soybean fields that had drown-out damage. Very little replanting occurred on drown-out areas in existing corn fields. Realistically, the best that farmers in the Upper Midwest can hope for with soybeans planted in early-to-mid July is probably a yield of 25-30 bushels per acre, compared to a normal yield of 60 bushels per acre or more. This assumes favorable growing conditions from now until September, as well as the first killing frost not occurring until mid-October. If the replanted soybeans do not produce a crop that can be harvested as grain, they still potentially can make a good cover crop for the drown-out areas. Some farmers were able to get some reimbursement through replant clauses in their crop insurance policies to help cover their replant clauses.
 
Probably the most difficult decisions that farmers in the Upper Midwest have been facing in mid-July are related to the remaining corn crop in the fields that did not drown-out. In many areas, large segments of corn fields have short, yellowish corn with shallow root systems that shows signs of deficiencies of nitrogen and other nutrients. In some cases, portions of these fields may need supplemental applications of nitrogen fertilizer. In addition, wet field conditions can lead to higher incidences of certain corn diseases, which can require fungicide applications.
 
If the remaining corn crop looked fairly viable and we had projected corn harvest prices above $5.00 per bushel, many farmers would probably make the investment into the extra nitrogen fertilizer or applying the fungicide to control the potential corn diseases. However, in many of the worst corn fields in Southern Minnesota, Northwest Iowa, and Southeast South Dakota, the remaining corn crop does not appear to have significant yield potential and the corn harvest price at local grain markets is below $4.00 per bushel. If farmers to choose to apply 30 pounds of extra nitrogen with some sulfur added, the approximate cost would be an estimated $30-$40 per acre. The cost of treating corn with fungicide would likely be an estimated $25-$30 per acre.
 
“Human nature” for most farmers is to try and get the highest corn yield that is reasonably possible, which in a year such as this would probably mean applying the extra nitrogen fertilizer and treating the corn with fungicide, if necessary. However, there is also the economic side of this decision. If a crop producer already feels that his 2024 corn crop may qualify for crop insurance indemnity payments, does it make sense to continue to put discretionary input costs into that crop to get a few more bushels of crop yield ? That decision probably varies from farm-to-farm and field-to-field, so more in-depth analysis may be required before a decision is made.
 
Most farmers carry revenue protection (RP) federal crop insurance policies, which are based on a combination of yield and price. The crop insurance guarantee for a RP policy is the APH yield on a farm unit times the Spring price or base price for a crop times the level of coverage. The 2024 Spring price for corn was $4.66 per bushel, so if a farm had a 200 bushel per acre APH yield with an 85% RP policy, the insurance guarantee would be $792 per acre (200 bu./A. x $4.66/bu. x .85). The harvest value of the crop is the actual yield times the final harvest price for corn, which is the average price of CBOT December corn futures during the month of October.
As of July 19, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) futures price was $4.06 per bushel. If that were the final crop insurance harvest price, crop insurance indemnity payments on a RP policy in corn would begin with a yield loss of approximately 2-3 percent with an 85% RP policy and about 9 percent with an 80% RP policy. With a 200 bushel per acre APH yield, that means that at a $4.06 per bushel harvest price crop insurance indemnity payments would be initiated at a final corn yield below 195 bushels per acre and below 183 bushels per acre with an 80% RP policy. Farmers not only face the difficulty of realistically evaluating the yield potential of the corn remaining in field, but also projecting what likely direction is of the CBOT December corn futures price between now and November. In addition, they need to factor any drown-out acres into the final yield estimates.
 
Another factor that enters into this decision is whether the crop insurance policy insuring the corn is insured under “enterprise units” or “optional units”. Enterprise units combine all acres of a crop in a given county into one crop insurance unit, while optional units allow producers to insure crops separately in each field within a township section. Enterprise units usually have considerably lower premium costs compared to optional units; however, enterprise units are based on larger coverage areas that can make it more difficult to cover crop damage that affect individual farm units. In many instances, corn producers that have insured their crop with optional units will likely be in a better position to fine-tune their decisions regarding added nitrogen or fungicide applications to individual corn fields.
 
If a farm operator has already determined that an individual field in the case of optional unit insurance coverage or all of the corn acres in a county in the case of enterprise units will likely qualify for 2024 crop insurance indemnity payments, then they need to evaluate the potential economic benefits how investing more dollars into crop inputs this growing season. For example, Using the 200 bu./A APH yield with 85% RP policy and a crop insurance harvest price of $4.10 per bushel, a farmer with a final yield of 150 bushels per acre would collect an estimated crop insurance indemnity payment of $177 per acre. If that farmer paid the cost for the extra nitrogen fertilizer and/or fungicide and increased the final corn yield to 180 bushels per acre, the crop insurance indemnity payment would be reduced to about $54 per acre, the added crop value at $3.80 per bushel times 30 bu./A would be $114 per acre, resulting in a total of approximately $168/A. Once the cost of the added nitrogen and fungicide is included, the “net result” would probably close to $125/A., as compared to the insurance indemnity payment without the expense of the added inputs.
 
“One solution doesn’t fit everyone” and every situation is different. The first step is to make a realistic yield estimate of corn field in the case of optional units or all corn acres in a county in the case of enterprise units, factoring in any drown-out or acres with zero production potential. Then find out the cost of any crop inputs and what estimate might be for yield enhancement. A reputable crop consultant or agronomist can assist with evaluating the corn yield potential and benefits from added crop inputs. The next step is to consult with the crop insurance agent regarding the crop insurance coverage level on the 2024 corn crop and what the potential crop insurance indemnity payments would be at various final harvest price levels.
 
It is also good to review your situation with your ag lender before you make the added investment into the corn crop in order to have their input as to how that decision may affect your financial situation with the lending institution. Ultimately, the final decision regarding the investment into more crop inputs for the 2024 corn crop comes down those involved in the business management of the farm operation. If both a husband and wife are involved, or if there are several family members involved, discuss and analyze the situation thoroughly, weighing all the input that was received and the economic analysis that was done. These are challenging mental decisions for farmers, so make it a group decision rather than having the stress of the decision on one individual.
 
Kent Thiesse has prepared an information sheet titled: “2024 Crop Insurance Payment Potential”. To receive a copy, please send an email to: [email protected]
 
Note - For additional information contact Kent Thiesse, Farm Management Analyst, Green Solutions
Phone - (507) 381-7960;  E-mail - [email protected] 

​The late June USDA Acreage Report is always highly anticipated, because it becomes the first “hard data” after the March USDA Plantings Intentions Report to give an indication of crop production levels for a given growing season. Many times, the June USDA Report can have a big impact on grain market trends, either upwards or downwards, and 2024 is no exception. The crop acreage report was initially viewed “bearish” for corn markets and fairly neutral for soybeans. Based on the June 28th report, farmers planted more acres of corn and less acres of soybeans in 2024 than was projected in the March 30 Planting Intentions Report. USDA surveyed more than 70,000 agricultural producers during the first two weeks of June to gather information for the June 28th report. However, it should be noted that as of early June there was an estimated 3.3 million acres of corn and 12.8 million acres of soybeans remaining to be planted. Crop acreage numbers will be adjusted in future months following the producer acreage reports to Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices in July.
 
The biggest surprise in the June 28th USDA Acreage Report was the estimate of 91.5 million planted corn acres planted in the U.S. in 2024. This was an increase of over 1.4 million planted acres from the March USDA Planting Intentions Report and was over 1.1 million acres above the estimates of grain marketing analysts. The 2024 corn acreage estimate was a decrease of 3 percent from the 2023 planted corn acres of 94.6 million acres. The estimated 2024 corn acreage also compares to 88.6 million acres in 2022, 93.6 million acres in 2021, 90.8 million acres in 2020, 89.7 million acres in 2019, and 89.1 million acres in 2018. The 2024 corn acreage was increased above the March planting intentions in 6 States, including increases of 600,000 acres in Kansas, 300,000 acres in Iowa, 250,000 acres in Nebraska, 200,000 acres in Minnesota, and 100,000 acres in both Ohio and South Dakota.
 
Based on the June 28th Report, 2024 corn acreage is expected to decrease in 9 of the 12 primary corn producing States, increase in 2 States, and stay the same in 1 State, as compared to 2023 acreage. Following is the estimated 2024 corn acreage in selected Upper Midwest States (with the change from 2023): Iowa at 13.1 million acres (same as 2023); Illinois at 10.9 million acres (down 300,000 acres); Nebraska at 10.1 million acres (up 150,000 acres); Minnesota at 8.1 million acres (down 500,000 acres); Kansas at 6.3 million acres (up 550,000 acres); South Dakota at 6.1 million acres (down 200,000 acres); Indiana at 5.1 million acres (down 350,000 acres); North Dakota at 3.8 million acres (down 250,000 acres); Wisconsin at 3.7 million acres (down 300,000 acres); Missouri at 3.5 million acres (down 350,000 acres); and Ohio at 3.4 million acres (down 200,000 acres).
 
The June 28th USDA Report estimated that 86.1 million acres of soybean acres will be planted in 2024 in the U.S., which was a decrease of 410,000 acres from the March 1st USDA acreage estimate and would be over 650,00 acres below the average estimates of grain marketing analysts. The 2024 U.S. soybean acreage projection does represent an increase of 3 percent or 2.5 million acres from the 2023 planted acres. The estimated 2024 U.S. soybean acreage compares to other recent acreage levels of 83.6 million acres in 2023, 87.4 million acres in 2022, 87.2 million acres in 2021, 83.1 million acres in 2020, 76.1 million acres in 2019, and 89.2 million acres in 2018. The record U.S. soybean acreage was 90.2 million acres in 2017.
 
The 2024 soybean acreage is expected to increase or remain steady in 24 of the 29 reporting soybean producing States, as compared to 2023 acreage, with only Iowa showing a slight year-to-year decline among major soybean producing States. The estimated 2024 soybean acreage in selected Upper Midwest States (with the change from 2023): Illinois at 10.7 million acres (up 350,000 acres); Iowa at 9.9 million acres (down 50,000 acres); Minnesota at 7.6 million acres (up 250,000 acres); North Dakota at 6.8 million acres (up 600,000 acres); Indiana at 5.75 million acres (up 250,000 acres); Missouri at 5.6 million acres (same as 2023); Nebraska at 5.3 million acres (up 50,000 acres); South Dakota at 5.1 million acres (same as 2023); Ohio at 4.85 million acres (up 100,000 acres); Kansas at 4.55 million acres (up 120,000 on acres); and Wisconsin at 2.15 million acres (up 40,000 acres).
JUNE 28th  QUARTERLY  GRAIN  STOCKS  SUMMARY
The USDA Quarterly Grain Socks Report was also released on June 28, which showed the highest inventory of corn stored on farms since 1988. Following is a brief summary of the June 28th Grain Stocks Report:
Corn --- The June 28th report indicated a total U.S. corn inventory of just over 4.99 billion bushels on June 1, 2024, which represented an increase of about 22 percent from the corn inventory a year ago on June 1. Approximately 60 percent of the total U.S. corn inventory, or just over 3 billion bushels, was in on-farm storage on June 1, which is up 37 percent from last year at this time. The level of on-farm corn inventories on June 1st included 570 million bushels in Iowa, 460 million bushels in Minnesota, 445 million bushels in Illinois, 250 million bushels in Nebraska, 225 million bushels in South Dakota, 205 million bushels in Indiana, 135 million bushels in Missouri, and 120 million bushels in North Dakota, all of which are well above comparable on-farm inventories in recent years. The June 28th report implied that the estimated total U.S. corn usage from March 1 to May 31 was 3.36 billion bushels, which compares to 3.29 billion bushels during that same time period in 2023.
 
Soybeans --- The Grain Stocks Report showed a total of 970 million bushels of soybeans in inventory as of June 1, 2024, which is an increase of 22 percent from a year ago. It was estimated that 466 million bushels of soybeans, were still in on-farm storage on June 1, 2024, which is up 44 percent from a year ago. This included 83 million bushels in Iowa, 68 million bushels in Minnesota, 66 million bushels in Illinois, 39 million bushels in Ohio, 38 million bushels in Indiana, 37 million bushels in South Dakota, 30 million bushels in Missouri, 18.5 million bushels in Nebraska, and 17.5 million bushels in North Dakota. The level of on-farm soybean stocks on June 1st is significantly higher in many States compared to other recent years.  The June 28th report implied that the estimated total U.S. soybean usage from March 1 to May 31 was 875 million bushels, which was down two percent from the same time period a year ago.
 
GRAIN  PRICE  IMPACTS
December corn futures prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell by 13 cents per bushel following the release of the USDA Crop Acreage and Quarterly Grain Stocks Reports on June 28. The CBOT December corn futures price declined by ten percent or $.47 per bushel during the month of June, which is not a normal early Summer price pattern. This obviously is being driven by the much larger U.S. corn inventory and higher than expected 2024 corn acreage, along with stagnant corn usage and export levels compared to a year ago. The CBOT December corn futures price closed at $4.20 per bushel on June 28. This compares to December CBOT closing futures  prices in recent years following the June USDA reports of $4.95 per bushel in 2023, $6.20 per bushel in 2022, $5.54 per bushel in 2021, $3.50 per bushel in 2020, and $4.31 per bushel in 2019. New crop 2024 corn price bids for harvest delivery have dropped below $4.00 per bushel at many locations in the Upper Midwest.
 
CBOT November soybean futures held firm following the June 28th USDA reports and were trading at $11.04 per bushel. Even though the level of soybean stocks in inventory is up from a year ago, the 2024 estimated soybean acreage came in a bit lower than was anticipated by the grain trade. The $11.04 per bushel on June 28 compares to November CBOT closing futures  prices in recent years following the June USDA reports of $13.43 per bushel in 2023, $14.10 per bushel in 2022, $13.99 per bushel in 2021, and $8.91 per bushel in 2020, and $9.32 per bushel in 2019. New crop 2024 corn price bids for harvest delivery have dropped below $10.50 per bushel at many locations in the Upper Midwest, with slightly higher bids at soybean processing plants.
 
The stagnant or declining cash and forward contract prices for both corn and soybeans during June is limiting opportunities for farmers to sell remaining grain inventories and to forward price some of the expected 2024 corn and soybean production. Unless there are some weather issues later in the growing season that cut into the anticipated 2024 U.S. crop production, it may be difficult to get any significant increases in corn and soybean price levels between now and harvest-time. Farmers with remaining 2023 corn and soybeans to sell will need to watch for some localized short-term rallies in grain markets to liquidate the remaining inventories before harvest.
Note - For additional information contact Kent Thiesse, Farm Management Analyst, Green Solutions
Phone - (507) 381-7960;  E-mail - [email protected] 

​Many farmers across the Upper Midwest have been dealing with the impacts of the heavy rains and flooding that have developed in late June. A widespread area of Southern Minnesota, Northern Iowa and Eastern South Dakota received 12-16 inches of rain or more during the month of June, which followed more than double the normal precipitation in May. This has resulted in flash flooding near rivers and streams and an immense amount of standing water in many areas. The result has been considerable drown-out damage to crops, some loss of livestock, and some physical damage to buildings and other property on farm sites. The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced that there is some assistance available through USDA
 
Following is some of the assistance that is available through USDA:

• Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) --- The LIP program is available to livestock producers that incur damage to livestock due to the heavy rainfall, flooding, or other natural disasters. This program is intended to aid livestock producers that lost livestock or had livestock sales impacted by the natural disaster. Producers that have livestock-related losses need to submit evidence of the losses to their local FSA office. The deadline to apply for 2024 LIP payments is March 25, 2025. Livestock producers that experience losses related to tornado or strong wind damage should check with their local FSA office for further details on LIP eligibility.

 

• Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) --- The ELAP program for livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish to provide eligible producers and compensation for feed and grazing losses. To qualify for ELAP, producers are required to complete a notice of loss and a payment application at their local FSA office. The deadline for 2024 ELAP applications at FSA offices is January 30, 2025. There is a separate Tree Assistance Program (TAP) available through FSA offices for orchard owners that had lost or damaged fruit trees.

 

• Emergency Relief Program (ERP) --- USDA has initiated the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) on several occasions in recent years to provide additional assistance to crop producers with extensive crop losses due to natural disasters. One segment of the ERP program provides payments beyond federal crop insurance coverage to eligible producers, while the other segment of ERP is for crops not covered by federal crop insurance. No ERP program has been announced for the 2024 crop year at this point; however, the crop loss data that is gathered from the local FSA offices is important to determine the need for an ERP program. Payments through the ERP program are typically made after the crop year has been completed and all crop insurance claims have been filed.

 

• FSA Low-Interest Loans --- Producers that are in counties with a primary USDA disaster declaration, including contiguous counties, are eligible for emergency loans through local FSA offices to help them recover from physical and production losses due to natural disasters. These loans can be used be used to replace buildings and equipment, for feed and farm input purchases, and for other farm-related expenses. Many times the emergency loans are at lower interest rates than regular loans and can be amortized for more than one year. It is likely that many counties in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota will be included in disaster declarations in the coming weeks, which will make farmers and ranchers in those areas eligible for the FSA emergency loans. Farmers that had damage to grain storage and handling facilities could also utilize the low-interest Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) program to finance repair or replacement costs for those facilities. For more details on the emergency loans and FSFL loans, as well as the loan requirements, producers should contact their local FSA office.
• Report Losses to Local FSA Offices --- The local FSA office is the point site to gather disaster-related information and loss data for USDA to determine the need for additional USDA disaster programs. It also important for farmers to report any lost crop acreage, loss of livestock, and physical damage to property from the heavy rainfall and severe storms to local FSA offices, so that they can do an accurate assessment of the damage and put together a request for disaster assistance.

 
All Farmers need to pay attention to FSA and Crop Insurance Deadlines
Once the crop is planted and we get into mid-Summer, it is easy to overlook some important deadlines at Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices, crop insurance, and other important deadlines. Missing some of these deadlines can be a costly mistake, as many of the program payments and benefits are linked to compliance with these deadlines. Following is a couple of those important deadlines:
 

• FSA Acreage Certification --- The 2024 crop acreage reporting deadline for all Spring planted crops is Monday, July 15 at local FSA offices. Farmers are required to report their 2024 crop acres of corn, soybeans, spring wheat, and other Spring planted crops to FSA offices. This includes crop acreage of hemp and wild rice. The only exception is for crops that were planted after the deadline. In that case, farmers have an additional 15 days to report their crop acreage. Producers also need to report any 2024 prevented planted crop acres to the FSA office by the July 15 deadline. Fall-seeded small grain crops must be reported by November 15, 2024. Farm operators can certify their crop acreage electronically to the FSA office by utilizing “farmers.gov portal”. This FSA portal also allows farmers to have the ability for online farm program enrollment and data submission. For more information on the setting up a FSA portal, farmers should contact their local FSA office or go the FSA website at: https://www.farmers.gov/

 

• Crop Insurance Acreage Reporting Deadline --- The 2024 crop acreage reporting deadline for corn, soybeans, and other Spring planted crops with local crop insurance agents is also Monday, July 15. Farmers are required to report their 2024 crop acres in order to maintain their 2024 crop insurance coverage. This is extremely important in 2024 due to the strong crop insurance guarantees for corn and soybeans, along with the potential for crop production issues in some areas due to late planting, flooding, and other weather-related issues. Similar to FSA, any 2024 prevented planted acres need to be reported for crop insurance purposes, as well as any crop acres that were replanted this year.

 
Farm and Rural Stress Assistance
The combination of the lowest grain prices in the past five years, together with the likely crop loss from the recent flooding and natural disasters, is likely to result in reduced farm income levels for many farmers in 2024. This is likely to increase the mental stress level for many farmers and farm families. There are some good resources available to assist farm and rural families in the Upper Midwest States that have been impacted:

• Minnesota --- The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has rural and mental health assistance resources available through the following:

“Minnesota Farm and Rural Helpline”--- 833-600-2670
Website --- https://www.mda.state.mn.us/about/mnfarmerstress
 

• Iowa --- The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has rural and mental health assistance resources available through the following:

“Iowa Concern Hotline”--- 1-800-447-1885;  Website --- https://iowaagriculture.gov/
 

• South Dakota --- The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources has rural and mental health assistance resources available at: https://danr.sd.gov/

 
Note - For additional information contact Kent Thiesse, Farm Management Analyst, Green Solutions
Phone - (507) 381-7960;  E-mail - [email protected]