Agriculture

All are invited to the Pratt County Wheat Plot Tour on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at 6 p.m.

Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2025 crop year may have missed the April 15, 2025 deadline to revise elections and sign contracts. Both safety net programs, delivered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provide vital income support to eligible farmers who experience substantial declines in crop prices or revenues for the 2025 crop year. In Kansas, producers have completed 72,222 contracts to date, representing 70% of the more than 104,500 expected contracts. “Agriculture Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage programs provide excellent risk protection, for market declines, at no cost to the producer,” said Joshua Ridder, deputy state executive director for FSA in Kansas. “If you haven’t made your program election or signed a contract, please contact your local FSA county office as soon as possible to set an appointment so you don’t miss the April 15 deadline.” Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County or PLC, which provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual, which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2025 are optional, producers must enroll, with a signed contract, each year. If a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm, the contract will continue for 2025 unless an election change is made. If producers do not submit their election revision by the April 15, 2025, deadline, the election remains the same as their 2024 election for eligible commodities on the farm. Also, producers who do not complete enrollment and sign their contract by the deadline will not be enrolled in ARC or PLC for the 2025 year and will not receive a payment if one is triggered. Farm owners can only enroll in these programs if they have a share interest in the commodity. Producers are eligible to enroll farms with base acres for the following commodities: barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat. Web-Based Decision Tools Many universities, including Kansas State University’s AgManager.info , offer web-based decision tools to help producers make informed, educated decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations. Producers are encouraged to use the tool of their choice to support their ARC and PLC elections. Crop Insurance Considerations Producers are reminded that enrolling in ARC or PLC programs can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products offered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). Producers who elect and enroll in PLC also have the option of purchasing Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through their Approved Insurance Provider, but producers of covered commodities who elect ARC are ineligible for SCO on their planted acres. Unlike SCO, RMA’s Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is unaffected by participating in ARC for the same crop, on the same acres. Producers may elect ECO regardless of their farm program election. Upland cotton farmers who enroll seed cotton base acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible for the stacked income protection plan, or STAX, on their planted cotton acres. Optimizing FSA Office Visits Agricultural producers visiting FSA to complete ARC/PLC elections and enrollment are encouraged to also conduct other FSA program business during their scheduled appointment including completing farm loan applications and applying for the recently announced Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP). Sign up for ECAP began on March 19, 2025. ECAP, authorized by the American Relief Act, 2025, provides up to $10 billion to agricultural producers for the 2024 crop year. Administered by FSA, ECAP will help agricultural producers mitigate the impacts of increased input costs and falling commodity prices. Congress gave USDA 90 days to implement the program, and that deadline was met. Producers of eligible commodities must submit ECAP applications to their local FSA county office by Aug. 15, 2025. Only one application is required for all ECAP eligible commodities nationwide. ECAP applications can be submitted to FSA in-person, electronically using Box and One-Span, by fax or by applying online at fsa.usda.gov/ecap utilizing a secure login.gov account. For more information, please visit the ECAP website or review the ECAP Fact Sheet.

PRATT – Seven lucky conservation organizations are set to receive Commission Big Game Hunting Permits after their applications were drawn by Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commissioners during the January 30 public meeting. The Commission Big Game Hunting Permit program allows Kansas-based non-profit organizations that focus on wildlife conservation and promoting the hunting and fishing heritage to apply for one of seven permits. The permits can then be sold by the winning group to raise funds for conservation projects in Kansas. The winning organizations typically raffle or auction the permit to the highest bidder and keep 15 percent of the sale price to support their missions. The remaining 85 percent is held by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) until a mutually agreed upon conservation project is approved.

Field Bindweed Control