In This Issue:
New Programs Will Provide Additional Pandemic and Natural Disaster Assistance for 2020 and 2021; Deadline Announced for Previous Emergency Relief
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans for additional emergency relief and pandemic assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA is preparing to roll out the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase Two as well as the new Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP), which are two programs to help offset crop and revenue losses for producers. USDA is sharing early information to help producers gather documents and train front-line staff on the new approach.
ERP Phase Two will assist eligible agricultural producers who suffered eligible crop losses, measured through decreases in revenue, due to wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture and qualifying droughts occurring in calendar years 2020 and 2021.
PARP will assist eligible producers of agricultural commodities who experienced revenue decreases in calendar year 2020 compared to 2018 or 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PARP will help address gaps in previous pandemic assistance, which was targeted at price loss or lack of market access, rather than overall revenue losses.
Click here to read more: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/New-Jersey/news-releases/2022/usda-previews-crop-and-revenue-loss-assistance-foragricultural-producers-
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 December 5 is the Last Day to Return Ballots
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began mailing ballots this week for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county and urban county committee elections to all eligible agricultural producers and private landowners across the country. Elections are occurring in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for these committee members who make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. Producers and landowners must return ballots to their local FSA county office or have their ballots be postmarked by Dec. 5, 2022, in order for those ballots to be counted.
Producers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program to be eligible to vote in the county committee election. A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation but may not have applied or received FSA program benefits. Additionally, producers who are not of legal voting age but supervise and conduct farming operations for an entire farm are eligible to vote in these elections.
Each committee has from three to 11 elected members who serve three-year terms, and at least one seat representing an LAA is up for election each year. Ballots must in the mail or delivered in person by close of business Dec. 5, 2022, to be counted. Newly elected committee members will take office Jan. 1, 2023.
Producers can find out if their LAA is up for election and if they are eligible to vote by contacting their local FSA county office. Eligible voters who do not receive a ballot in the mail can request one from their local FSA county office. Visit farmers.gov/service-locator to find your local USDA Service Center and fsa.usda.gov/elections for more information.
Click below to access your local service center election information:
The Counties listed below were declared a disaster due to drought that began in August 2022. Under this designation, if you have operations in any primary or contiguous county, you are eligible to apply for low interest emergency loans.
Emergency loans help you recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding and other natural disasters or quarantine.
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Primary Counties: Middlesex, Somerset
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Contiguous Counties: Bergen, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union
You have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for emergency loan assistance. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. You can borrow up to 100 percent of actual production or physical losses, to a maximum amount of $500,000.
The current Emergency Loan rate is 3.750%
Additional information, deadlines, and disaster declarations are available on the New Jersey FSA website at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/New-Jersey/index#disaster_declaration
Click here for more information about emergency loans: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/farm-loan-programs/emergency-farm-loans/index or contact your local USDA Service Center. Visit farmers.gov/service-locator to find your local USDA Service Center
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Agricultural producers and handlers who are certified organic, along with producers and handlers can still apply for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP), which help producers and handlers cover the cost of organic certification.
OCCSP covers 50% or up to $500 per category of certification costs in 2022. This cost share for certification is available for each of these categories: crops, wild crops, livestock, processing/handling and State organic program fees.
Producers can receive cost share through OCCSP to cover costs incurred from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022. Producers can now late file applications until December 31, 2022, and FSA will make payments as applications are received.
To apply, producers and handlers should contact the Farm Service Agency (FSA) at their local USDA Service Center. As part of completing the OCCSP applications, producers and handlers will need to provide documentation of their organic certification. Organic producers and handlers may also apply for OCCSP through participating State agencies.
Additional details can be found on the OCCSP webpage.
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 USDA needs your vital feedback to make programs more accessible,
equitable and easier to use
Are you a farmer, rancher or forest manager? Please share your vital feedback with USDA by taking a nationwide survey at farmers.gov/survey! The survey is completely anonymous, will take about 10 minutes to complete, is available in multiple languages, and will be open until March 31, 2023. The survey focuses on gathering feedback about the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Risk Management Agency.
All farmers, ranchers and forest managers are encouraged to take the survey. USDA would especially like to hear from prospective customers: those who don’t know about USDA or have yet to work with USDA, and those who were unable to participate in the past. The survey will help USDA enhance support, improve programs and services, increase access, and advance equity for new and existing customers.
 Offers important farm management lessons to help women succeed
Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) will present a new online version of the popular Annie’s Project, over the course of six weeks, one evening per week. “As in the previous Annie’s Project programs, this workshop is designed to educate and train new and aspiring farm women on risk management strategies and provide tools for successful business management,” says Robin Brumfield, extension specialist in farm management, Rutgers Cooperative Extension.
The online training course, titled “Annie Goes Online: Risk Management On Your Kitchen Table,” will be held virtually on Zoom on January 11, 18, and 25; February 15 and 22; and March 1 between the hours 6 - 9 p.m.
An optional all day in person tax workshop on February 9th will be offered at the Vegetable Growers Association Meeting held during the 2023 Ag Convention in Atlantic City.
Registration is currently open. Early bird registration is $100 until Nov. 30; regular registration is $150 from Dec.1 to Dec. 31. Registration includes workshop study materials, and admission to the convention (February 7~9).
Financial assistance, provided by Farm Credit East is available to those in need, who must first fill out a scholarship application. Funds are available on a first-come-first-served basis.
This course is online. Each three-hour session will include review and discussion of the previous week’s business or marketing plan assignment or climate-biosecurity plan. Afterwards, extension educators, business industry representatives, and producers will give live presentations. Presentations (but not participant discussions will be recorded).
“The economic instability, supply-chain disruption, and extreme weather impacts of the last few years have led us to focus on the following risk management issues,” said Brumfield.
The course starts with an insightful session on transition and managing marketing, financial and human resource risks by keynote speaker Wenfei Uva, co-owner of Seaberry Farm – a 36-acre specialty fruit and flower farm in Federalsburg, Maryland. Uva received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in agricultural economics. Uva was an extension leader for the Cornell Horticultural Business Management and Marketing Program from 1999-2007.
In this course, speakers and instructors will cover the following topics: Labor recruitment and labor laws; income statements, cash flow statements and personal finances, food safety and water use regulations, insurance coverage and taxes. Production relevant risk management talks will cover soil fertility and soil health, crop/livestock production budgets, controlled environment agriculture overview, storm water management, livestock-poultry disease biosecurity, and marketing and supply channels overview.
“New, aspiring, and current women farmers will gain educational training on the essentials of preparing a business plan, considered a vital roadmap to success for any business,” says Brumfield. Participants will also benefit from networking opportunities with their peers and other agricultural professionals.
For more information about the program, visit Rutgers Farm Management Website. Material for this program is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2021-70027-34693.
America’s farmers and ranchers will soon have the opportunity to be represented in the nation’s only comprehensive and impartial agriculture data for every state, county and territory. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will mail the 2022 Census of Agriculture to millions of agriculture producers across the 50 states and Puerto Rico this fall.
The 2022 Census of Agriculture will be mailed in phases, starting with an invitation to respond online in November followed by paper questionnaires in December. Farm operations of all sizes, urban and rural, which produced and sold, or normally would have sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural product in 2022 are included in the ag census.
Collected in service to American agriculture since 1840 and now conducted every five years by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the Census of Agriculture tells the story and shows the value of U.S. agriculture. It highlights land use and ownership, producer characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, among other topics. Between ag census years, NASS considers revisions to the questionnaire to document changes and emerging trends in the industry. Changes to the 2022 questionnaire include new questions about the use of precision agriculture, hemp production, hair sheep, and updates to internet access questions.
To learn more about the Census of Agriculture, visit nass.usda.gov/AgCensus or call 800-727-9540. On the website, producers and other data users can access frequently asked questions, past ag census data, partner tools to help spread the word about the upcoming ag census, special study information, and more. For highlights of these and the latest information on the upcoming Census of Agriculture, follow USDA NASS on twitter @usda_nass.
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