Important change for hay, pasture

DeKalb/Cannon County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Executive Director Donny Green wants to inform hay and pasture producers of a new important crop acreage reporting deadline.

For crop year 2017, acreage reports for perennial forage (hay and pasture) must be filed by November 15, 2016. Acreage reports filed after the established deadline could require the producer to pay a late-filed fee.

In past years, crop acreage reports for hay and pasture had to be filed by July 15. However, the new Acreage/Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative (ACRSI) has established a common USDA framework for acreage reporting dates to be used for all agencies.

In order to participate in most of the Farm Service Agency's programs, complete and timely crop acreage reports must be filed for program approval and payment eligibility.

"We realize that this change to the acreage reporting date for hay and pasture comes with very short notice. We only have about a month to get all of our hay and pasture producers certified and we are going to do our best to make sure everyone is aware of this change and the importance of getting hay and pasture crops certified before November 15, 2016", says Green.

For questions regarding crop acreage reporting dates, please contact the DeKalb/Cannon County FSA office at 615-597-8225, extension 2.