Farm Service Agency County Committee Nomination Period Began June 15 The nomination period for local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees begins Sunday, June 15, 2014. To be eligible to serve on an FSA county committee, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and reside in the local administrative area where the person is nominated. For election purposes, counties are divided into local administrative areas, or LAA's. Each LAA selects one producer to serve a three-year term on the Farm Service Agency county committee. Each year, an election is held in an LAA to replace the committee member whose three-year term is expiring. In counties with three LAA's, one seat is up for election. An election will be held for the Crawford County Committee position for LAA 1 that includes the townships of Texas, Lykens, Chatfield, Cranberry, and Auburn. The Crawford County FSA would like to thank Allen Schimpf for his dedicated service as LAA's 1 representative for the last 9 years. Farmers and landowners may nominate themselves or others. Organizations representing minorities and women also may nominate candidates. To become a candidate, an eligible individual must sign the nomination form, FSA-669A. The form and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. Nomination forms for the 2014 election must be postmarked or received at the Crawford County FSA office by close of business on Aug. 1, 2014. Elections will take place this fall. While FSA county committees do not approve or deny farm ownership or operating loans, they make decisions on disaster and conservation programs, emergency programs, commodity price support loan programs and other agricultural issues. Members serve three-year terms. FSA will mail ballots to eligible voters beginning Nov. 3, 2014. Ballots are due back to the FSA office either via mail or in person by Dec. 1, 2014. Newly elected committee members and alternates take office on Jan. 1, 2015. For more information, contact the Crawford County FSA office or visit the County Committee Elections website to learn more about the County Committee Election process at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. USDA Ohio Rural Development Agency Announces Funding Available through Rural Energy for America Program Agricultural Producers and Rural Small Businesses Encouraged to Apply for Grants and Loan Guarantees USDA Ohio Rural Development (RD) Agency is seeking applications from rural small businesses and agricultural producers for funding to make energy efficiency improvements or to install renewable energy systems through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The Rural Energy for America Program is design to assist applicants install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements. Small rural businesses and agricultural producers located in Ohio who are interested in applying for the REAP grant only or the REAP grant and loan guarantee in combination must submit their complete application to the Ohio Rural Development State Office. Applications must be received by 4:30 p.m. on July 7, 2014. Parties interested in applying for a loan guarantee only must submit their complete application to the Ohio Rural Development State Office no later than 4:30 p.m. on July 31, 2014. Renewable energy systems can include solar electric, solar thermal, wind, geothermal, biomass, and anaerobic digestion systems. Energy efficiency improvement systems can include lighting improvements, insulation, electric motor replacements and other energy efficiency improvement projects as outlined in an energy audit. Grants are available on a competitive basis for up to twenty-five percent of the eligible project costs with a maximum grant of $500,000 for renewable energy systems and $250,000 for energy efficiency improvement projects. Loan guarantees are also available for up to seventy-five percent of the eligible project costs with a maximum loan guarantee in the amount of $25,000,000. Combination grant and loan guarantee applications cannot exceed seventy-five percent of eligible project costs. Nationally, funding available in Fiscal Year 2014 will be used to support REAP grants totaling $12,380,000 and loan guarantees totaling $57,800,000. The funding announced does not included the funding recently authorized through the 2014 Farm Bill. A subsequent announcement for the funding authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill will be published later this year along with a separate application deadline. If you are interested in pursuing a grant or loan guarantee for the Rural Energy for America Program, please submit a complete application to the address listed below at your earliest opportunity. USDA, Rural Development
State Office
200 North High Street, Room 507
Columbus, OH 43215
Fax 614-255-2562
www.rurdev.usda.gov For more information or assistance with questions or application documents please contact the following RD staff. New Farm Bill Offers Increased Loan Opportunities for Producers The 2014 Farm Bill offers increased opportunities for producers including farm loan program modifications that create flexibility for new and existing farmers. A fact sheet outlining modifications to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Farm Loan Programs is available here. The Farm Bill expands lending opportunities for thousands of farmers and ranchers to begin and continue operations, including greater flexibility in determining eligibility, raising loan limits, and emphasizing beginning and socially disadvantaged producers. Changes that will take effect immediately include: - Elimination of loan term limits for guaranteed operating loans.
- Modification of the definition of beginning farmer, using the average farm size for the county as a qualifier instead of the median farm size.
- Modification of the Joint Financing Direct Farm Ownership Interest Rate to 2 percent less than regular Direct Farm Ownership rate, with a floor of 2.5 percent. Previously, the rate was established at 5 percent.
- Increase of the maximum loan amount for Direct Farm Ownership down payment loans from $225,000 to $300,000.
- Elimination of rural residency requirement for Youth Loans, allowing urban youth to benefit.
- Debt forgiveness on Youth Loans, which will not prevent borrowers from obtaining additional loans from the federal government.
- Increase of the guarantee amount on Conservation Loans from 75 to 80 percent and 90 percent for socially disadvantaged borrowers and beginning farmers.
- Microloans will not count toward loan term limits for veterans and beginning farmers.
Additional modifications must be implemented through the rulemaking processes. Visit the FSA Farm Bill website for detailed information and updates to farm loan programs. Farm Reconstitutions For FSA program purposes, tracts having the same owner and the same operator are grouped under one farm serial number. When changes in ownership or operation take place, a farm reconstitution is necessary. The reconstitution—or recon—is the process of combining or dividing farms or tracts of land based on the farming operation. The following are the different methods used when doing a farm recon: - Estate Method — The division of bases, allotments and quotas for a parent farm among heirs in settling an estate
- Designation of Landowner Method — May be used when (1) part of a farm is sold or ownership is transferred; (2) an entire farm is sold to two or more persons; (3) farm ownership is transferred to two or more persons; (4) part of a tract is sold or ownership is transferred; (5) a tract is sold to two or more persons; or (6) tract ownership is transferred to two or more persons. In order to use this method the land sold must have been owned for at least three years, or a waiver granted, and the buyer and seller must sign a Memorandum of Understanding
- DCP Cropland Method — The division of bases in the same proportion that the DCP cropland for each resulting tract relates to the DCP cropland on the parent tract
- Default Method — The division of bases for a parent farm with each tract maintaining the bases attributed to the tract level when the reconstitution is initiated in the system.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay),
(866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users). |
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