A final reminder is being provided to all producers that July 16 is the final day to report crop acres to the Farm Service Agency.

FSA program participants are required to file acreage reports. Acreage reports not filed by the July 16 deadline will be assessed a late fee of $46 per farm. For those producers that maintain crop insurance, a summary acreage report will be provided to the producer that can in turn be provided to the crop insurance agent.

The July 16 deadline is for the following crops: hay, soybeans, corn, fruits and vegetables and CREP acreage.

Sometimes future farm program eligibility is based upon previous year's acreage reports. Planting history for a farm has numerous purposes that sometimes are not known until years later. It is always a good idea to file an acreage report. Producers can call the office if they choose to set up an appointment, or just walk in. It only takes about 15 minutes per farm. For those unable to visit the office, aerial photos can be requested by mail, and then the acreage report can be completed by FSA and mailed back to the producer. This optio3n is helpful to producers who work away from the farm or are too distant to make the trip to Butler.

Growing season

A brief update on the growing season for the three-county area is best summarized as a "mixed bag."

Many areas have not received adequate rainfall, thus causing poor plant growth, population and emergence issues. However, there are other areas that have received normal rainfall. May and particularly June have been warmer and dryer than normal. This enabled timely planting of field crops and an extended period of dry days to make quality hay. We are getting numerous reports of the hay yield being lighter than usual. This is to be expected since most of mixed hay is cool season grasses.

A positive note is that since a lot of hay was harvested early, there stands to be a good chance for a productive second cutting. Of course, this assumes normal rainfall for the rest of the summer.

As for oats and wheat, the wheat looks good everywhere, but the oats are a different story. Oats are short everywhere and would be best characterized as fair due to the hot and dry weather we experienced in May. Someone would be hard pressed to find a nice tall field of oats in this area. Vegetable producers who are able to irrigate will expect normal production and local sweet corn is now available.

Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.