Some County FSA Offices are Open

Wednesday afternoon the USDA announced that some County Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be open today, tomorrow and next Tuesday. All FSA offices will be closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day. In our immediate listening area the FSA offices open include the Blue Earth County office in Mankato, Fillmore County in Preston, and the Olmsted FSA office in Rochester.

The partial Federal Government shutdown has cause some issues for farmers. Some farmers had planned on putting their corn and soybeans in storage under loan with the Commodity Credit Cooperation (CCC.)  Farmers can generate some cash with a very reasonable interest rate and still maintain ownership of the grain while they wait for higher prices. Many Dairy farmers that bought up in the Margin Management Program are expecting payments that have not been made because of the shutdown.

At this point there are a lot of unknowns. If I want to put my corn and beans under loan and my control County FSA office is closed can I go to the nearest one that is open and begin the process? If I am a dairy farmer will the offices that are open be able to process the milk payments for other County FSA offices? It would be a whole lot easier if a budget agreement could be reached and get things back to normal!