Pictured here is the staff at the FSA office. Back row L to R: Jeff Nielsen, Tammy Lake, Kayleen Peters. Front row L to R: Tiffany Steffan and Kyra Hagberg.
Although the overview generated for the Farm Service Agency states, ‘The Farm Service Agency administers farm commodity, crop insurance, credit, environmental, conservation and emergency assistance programs for farmers and ranchers’, that doesn’t begin to describe the in-depth work they do. The employees at the Richland County FSA office do far more than what can be described in one overview statement.
The Richland County FSA office has a County Executive Director and four Program Technicians that can assist you with the various programs they offer. Each Program Technician handles specific programs and duties.
The county executive director, Tammy Lake, has been with the FSA for 22 years now. After being a program technician herself, she put in for the director position and got it. She directs and manages the program and administration operations for the Richland County office.
Kyra Hagberg, originally from Harlowtown, MT, has been with the FSA for a little over a year now. Her main focus is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help safeguard environmentally sensitive land. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve the quality of water, control soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat. In return, FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years. Hagberg also covers office administration and Emergency Conservation Program, which is emergency funding and technical assistance for farmers and ranchers to fix farmland damaged by natural disasters and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures in periods of severe drought.
Jeff Nielsen, originally from Plentywood, MT, has also been with the FSA for about a year. His main focus is on the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment Program (DCP). The DCP provides income support to producers of eligible commodities based on production history, such as acreage and yields. It does not depend on the current production choices. Counter-cyclical payments are made when the effective price for eligible commodities is less than the target price. Nielsen also keeps all farm record changes, such as sale or lease of property. Along those same lines, Nielsen also takes care of the Geographical Information System (GIS). GIS uses satellite imagery to look at fields. He is responsible for making adjustments due to oil wells, or land changes.
Tiffany Steffan, Sidney native, has been with the FSA about 4 months now. Her main focus is on crop certification. Any producer that participates in the various FSA programs is required to report total crop acres in the spring to the FSA office. So between May and July the producers come into the office to report what crops were seeded, when they were seeded and what their intended use is. Steffan also handles two different loan programs as well. One of the programs is the Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL). FSFL provides low-interest financing for producers to build or upgrade farm storage and handling facilities. The other program is Marketing Assistance Loan which provides producers with financing at harvest time to meet cash flow needs when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows.
Kayleen Peters, also a Sidney native, has been with the FSA right around 3 months. Her main focus is on Disaster Programs, such as Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) and Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). SURE provides assistance to producers that suffered from crop losses due to natural disasters. The program is currently accepting claims for the 2011 crop year up through June 7th, 2013. Along the same lines, NAP provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when natural disasters cause low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting from occurring. Peters also handles payment eligibility, which is required of all producers wanting to participate in any FSA programs. The main thing that eligibility is based on is whether a person or entity is “actively engaged in farming”, cash rent tenant, or a foreign person.
The Farm Service Agency is very important to Richland County, as it also works with the County Commissioners on disaster paperwork. In the case of a natural disaster, such as a flood or severe drought, the two entities work together to get the paperwork put together and sent in to the governor’s office. As Tammy Lake, County Executive Director stated, “We play a pivotal role to those designations.” So FSA not only aids farmers and ranchers in the area, but also the entire community.
The Richland County FSA office is located just out of town at 2745 W. Holly St. in Sidney. They can be contacted at 406-433-2103.
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