Local producers receive $3.6 million

The mission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency is to serve and help ensure the well-being of the nation’s farmers and ranchers who are responsible for making the agricultural sector of the U.S. economy successful and productive.

FSA farm loan programs are a vital source of credit to family farm operations by offering competitive, yet reasonable, financing rates and terms. During this year, the farm loan branch of Kansas FSA approved 1,017 operating, ownership, and emergency-type loans for a disbursement of over $102 million.

Farm entitlement programs are designed to improve agricultural economic stability and viability and assist all producers in their efforts to produce an adequate and reasonably price food, fiber, and fuel supply for the American public.

Locally, Marion County FSA issued more than $3.6 million in USDA payments through the fiscal year 2012, which ended Sept. 30. These included payments from direct, counter-cyclical, and conservation-related programs, as well as crop and livestock disaster assistance, commodity-based loans, farm storage facility loans, and milk income loss contracts.

FSA conserves resources and reduces taxpayer expenses by deploying electronic means for communicating with producers. Producer emails are downloaded into a GovDelivery system and are kept confidential. However, FSA County Committee election ballots and program payment statements will continue to be mailed directly to producers.

Subscribing producers can add the GovDelivery site address usdafsa@service.govdelivery.com to their contacts file to avoid government messages being treated as spam by e-mail service providers.

If they have not yet provided the local county FSA office with their e-mail address, producers are encouraged to do so by properly completing USDA form AD-2047. Those without e-mail capabilities must request copies of FSA-related information through the local county office.