January deadline for several programs

January does mark deadlines for filing prior year applications for a couple of "livestock friendly" USDA programs. These programs are the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), and the nonrecourse marketing assistance loans or Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) for wool and mohair from the USDA Farm Service Agency. Jan. 31, 2011 is the deadline for filing 2010 applications.

LIP offers to reimburse livestock producers for death losses due to weather-related disaster events that occur through the year. Producers have filed preliminary loss reports naming extreme cold/blizzard, lightning, and extreme heat as causes of loss during 2010.

So producers take note: For those losses timely reported through the year, follow up applications must be filed before the end of January 2011 in order to qualify for any indemnity payments. Documentation of losses must be provided as well as documentation of inventory numbers. Dated pictures of dead animals can be provided, contemporary records kept, or documentation of a farm visit by FSA personnel could also be used. A dead wagon ticket, a vet's certification of the death, etc. could also be provided for documentation.

The initial report of loss can be provided within 30 days of the date of the weather event over the phone at (620) 223-1880 for Bourbon County, but the follow up must then be provided in a timely way and the payment request signed by the livestock owner. Reimbursement for a baby calf is based on an established average price of $302.58 per head. So, if LIP applies to your situation, complete the needed activity before Jan. 31.

Losses after Jan. 1 each year should be reported within 30 days after the loss event and the follow-up paperwork completed before the year-end time limit.

Wool and mohair producers are reminded that the final date to apply for nonrecourse marketing assistance loans or loan deficiency payments (LDP) from the USDA Farm Service Agency is Jan. 31 for their 2010 wool and mohair.

Producers have until Jan. 31 of the year following the year in which the wool or mohair was sheared to apply for a nine-month marketing assistance loan or loan deficiency payment. This final deadline also applies to LDPs for unshorn pelts from unshorn lambs slaughtered in 2010.

Those placing their wool and mohair under loan with the Farm Service Agency receive an established loan rate. National per pound loan rates are set at 40 cents for ungraded wool, $1.38 and up for graded wool and $4.20 for mohair. In addition, unshorn pelts are eligible for loan deficiency payments at the ungraded wool LDP rate.

When filing an LDP application, producers must have a good estimate of the pounds they want to certify. The wool or mohair must be produced and shorn from live animals of domestic origin in the United States and be of saleable quality.

Producers can forego putting their wool and mohair under loan and receive a loan deficiency payment instead. In order to qualify for loans or LDPs, producers must meet program eligibility requirements.

Producers must have owned the sheep or goats for at least 30 days before shearing, and they must retain beneficial interest from the time of shearing through either repayment of the loan or, in the case of an LDP, the date the payment is requested. Also for unshorn pelts, the producer must sell the unshorn lamb for immediate slaughter or slaughter the unshorn lamb for personal use.

Those that do not retain the wool or mohair on the farm when sheared may lose beneficial interest and should have filed a form CCC-633EZ Page 1 before shearing. Producers must file a CCC-633EZ Page 1 before they lose beneficial interest in the commodity and then file a CCC-633EZ Page 4 to apply for the LDP payment before the Jan. 31 deadline.

Editor's Note: Doug Niemeir is the County Executive Director for the USDA/Farm Service Agency. He can be reached by emailing him at Douglas.Niemeir@ks.usda.gov.