First farm program deadline Feb. 27

The deadline to finalize decisions on base acre reallocation and updating payment yields at local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices is Feb. 27. The deadline for producers to complete the farm program choice on each farm unit, and potentially on each eligible crop, is March 31.
There have literally been hundreds of farm program information meetings held in the Upper Midwest in recent months, as well as print and on-line articles, spreadsheets, etc., on enrollment in the new farm program. However, even with all that information available to farm operators and landowners, there is still some confusion and misinformation regarding the various farm program decisions.
All decisions at local FSA offices on updating FSA program yields and reallocating crop base acres for each FSA farm unit require at least one landowner signature. If a producer is an owner/operator, they could make the decision on that FSA farm unit, even if there are multiple landowners. However, it is advisable to communicate with all landowners on a FSA farm unit regarding the base acre and payment yield decision that is chosen, since this decision will be in place for five years (2014-2018).