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As we roll into Spring I wanted to remind you to continue letting us know of any changes to your operation including ownership, forming LLC's, Trusts, changes to rented land, new partners, bank account changes, field boundary changes and breaking out new ground. We are busy preparing for 2022 NAP Pasture Payments in each of our counties. You will be receiving an application for payment to sign and return within the next few weeks.
Before you break out new ground (sodbusting), you are required to file Form AD-1026 “Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation Certification,” with FSA indicating the area to be brought into production.
This includes removing trees or conducting any other land manipulations that may affect wetlands. The form will be referred to NRCS to determine if the field is considered highly erodible land. If the field is considered HEL, you are required to implement a conservation plan or system that limits the erosion to the tolerable soil loss (T) for the predominant HEL soil on those fields.
ERP (Emergency Relief Program) Phase 2 Program
ERP Phase 2 provides assistance for crop losses due to qualifying droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze, including polar vortex, smoke exposure, and excessive moisture occurring in calendar years 2020 and 2021.
The signup for this program begins on January 23, 2023, and runs through June 2, 2023. Please view more information online at www.farmers.gov or contact our office for brochures and checklists on how to complete the signup.
PARP (Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program)
PARP provides financial assistance to eligible producers who experienced a 15 percent or more decrease in revenue from 2020 compared to either 2018 or 2019 for all agricultural commodities except:
- Wild, free-roaming animals
- Horses and other animals used, or intended to be used, for racing or wagering
- Aquatic species that do not meet the definition of aquaculture
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Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant that does not meet the definition of hemp
- Timber
The signup for this program begins on January 23, 2023, and runs through June 2, 2023. Please view more information online at www.farmers.gov or contact our office for brochures and checklists on how to complete the signup.
Guide Available for Underserved Farmers, Ranchers
A multi-agency guide for USDA assistance for underserved farmers and ranchers is now available. If you are a farmer or rancher and are a minority, woman, veteran, beginning, or limited resource producer, you can use this booklet to learn about assistance and targeted opportunities available to you. This includes programs offered through the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency. Download the guide here. The guide is also available in Spanish, Hmong, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese on farmers.gov/translations.
Click here for detailed local deadlines and ongoing programs.
Gov Delivery Emails & Texts: If you wish to sign up for these alerts for Text messaging type MOChristian or MOGreene or MOStone or MOTaney or MOWebster to FSANOW (372-669) to subscribe. If you want to sign up to receive alerts by email give the office a call.
The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) program provides low-interest financing to help you build or upgrade storage facilities and to purchase portable (new or used) structures, equipment and storage and handling trucks.
Eligible commodities include corn, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, oats, peanuts, wheat, barley, minor oilseeds harvested as whole grain, pulse crops (lentils, chickpeas and dry peas), hay, honey, renewable biomass, fruits, nuts and vegetables for cold storage facilities, floriculture, hops, maple sap, rye, milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, meat and poultry (unprocessed), eggs, and aquaculture (excluding systems that maintain live animals through uptake and discharge of water). Qualified facilities include grain bins, hay barns and cold storage facilities for eligible commodities.
Loans up to $50,000 can be secured by a promissory note/security agreement, loans between $50,000 and $100,000 may require additional security, and loans exceeding $100,000 require additional security.
You do not need to demonstrate the lack of commercial credit availability to apply. The loans are designed to assist a diverse range of farming operations, including small and mid-sized businesses, new farmers, operations supplying local food and farmers markets, non-traditional farm products, and underserved producers.
For more information, contact your local county USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport.
How much fuel can farmers save each year by transitioning from conventional tillage to continuous no-till? According to a new report from USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), 3.6 gallons per acre is a reasonable estimate. With current off-road diesel fuel prices, this could translate into approximately $17 per acre saved annually.
Nearly 87 percent of all cropland acres nationwide are farmed using some form of conservation tillage, where tillage is reduced for at least one crop within a given field. Continuous no-till accounts for 33 percent of this total.
Improving soil health is one known benefit of limiting disturbance. Farmers who minimize tillage across their operation may reduce soil erosion, maximize water infiltration, improve nutrient cycling, build organic matter, and strengthen resilience to disaster events or challenging growing conditions. Based on the latest data, they may also use significantly less fuel than with conventional tillage and reduce their associated carbon dioxide emissions.
According to CEAP, farmers who implement conservation tillage practices instead of continuous conventional tillage:
- Reduce potential nationwide fuel use by 763 million gallons of diesel equivalents each year, roughly the amount of energy used by 2.8 million households.
- Reduce potential associated emissions by 8.5 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents each year, equivalent to removing nearly 1.7 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles from the road.
How is this possible? Annually, farmers who practice continuous no-till use approximately 3.6 fewer gallons of fuel per acre than if they practiced continuous conventional tillage. Farmers who practice seasonal no-till – farming without tilling for at least one crop – use approximately 3 fewer gallons of fuel per acre than they would with conventional tillage year-round.
Acre by acre, fuel saved is money saved. Let’s assume an average off-road diesel fuel price of $4.75 per gallon*. By transitioning from continuous conventional tillage to continuous no-till, a farmer can save just over $17 per acre each year in fuel costs. A farmer who transitions from continuous conventional tillage to seasonal no-till can save more than $14 per acre on fuel annually. These potential savings are significantly larger than with CEAP’s first fuel savings report, primarily due to the current price of diesel fuel.
The bottom line for farmers: Reducing tillage leads to fuel savings that deliver significant financial benefits while building healthier soils for a more resilient operation.
If you’re a farmer interested in reducing tillage or pursuing other conservation efforts across your operation, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) can help.
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This blog offers five simple tips for farmers interested in trying no-till for the first time.
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This 90-second video provides a description of no-till and associated benefits according to a Delaware farmer.
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This 23-minute video follows five South Carolina farmers seeking to quantify the benefits of conservation practices that support soil health.
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This webpage details principles to improve soil health, including reduced tillage and complimentary conservation practices such as cover crops, crop rotations, and rotational grazing.
NRCS has local USDA Service Centers in nearly every county across the United States. You may find contact information for your nearest Service Center here. NRCS staff are available to provide free, one-on-one assistance with a suite of practices to strengthen your operation, conserve natural resources, and boost your bottom line. SMART nutrient management, for example, is important to consider with no-till and may help you save money on fertilizer while improving water quality – another win-win.
Visit the new NRCS website to learn more about conservation basics, getting assistance from NRCS, programs and initiatives, and resources to inform management decisions. Visit the new CEAP webpage for additional information about USDA’s efforts to quantify the effects of conservation practices across croplands and other working lands.
USDA is making funding available for agricultural producers and forest landowners nationwide to participate in voluntary conservation programs and adopt climate-smart practices. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided an additional $19.5 billion over five years for climate smart agriculture through several of the conservation programs that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) implements. NRCS is making available $850 million in fiscal year 2023 for its oversubscribed conservation programs: the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
The IRA funding includes an additional $8.45 billion for EQIP, $4.95 billion for RCPP, $3.25 billion for CSP, and $1.4 billion for ACEP. The increased funding levels begin in fiscal year 2023 and rapidly build over four years. These additional investments are estimated to help hundreds of thousands of farmers and ranchers apply conservation to millions of acres of land. Additionally, the IRA provides $300 million to quantify carbon sequestration and greenhouse gases (GHG) through the collection and use of field-based data to assess conservation outcomes. Information gained through this effort will be used to improve practices and technical assistance to customers. Further guidance on this important work will be provided as the implementation of this portion of the IRA continues.
These funds will provide direct climate mitigation benefits and will expand access to financial and technical assistance for producers to advance conservation on their farm, ranch or forest land through practices like cover cropping, conservation tillage, wetland restoration, prescribed grazing, nutrient management, tree planting and more. To ensure we can quantify the benefits of these IRA investments, NRCS is working to support Department-wide work on Measurement, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MMRV). The IRA provided targeted funding to support this effort. In administering the Inflation Reduction Act climate investments, USDA will also support other environmental co-benefits, including – among other things – water conservation, wildlife habitat improvements, and reducing runoff.
How to Apply
NRCS accepts producer applications for its conservation programs year-round, but producers interested in EQIP or CSP should apply by their state’s ranking dates to be considered for funding in the current cycle. Funding is provided through a competitive process and will include an opportunity to address the unmet demand from producers who have previously sought funding for climate-smart conservation activities.
For ACEP Agricultural Land Easements (ACEP-ALE) or Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE), applications for the current IRA funding cycle must be submitted by March 17, 2023, for the first funding round. This year, NRCS will prioritize ACEP-ALE for grasslands in areas of highest risk for conversion to non-grassland uses to prevent the release of soil carbon stores. Meanwhile, NRCS will prioritize ACEP-WRE for eligible lands that contain soils high in organic carbon.
NRCS plans to roll out the next RCPP funding opportunity in early spring, which will include IRA funds from fiscal year 2023.
Other opportunities for agreements and partnerships at the state level will be announced for fiscal year 2023 in the coming months. The IRA provides funding to support those strategic partnerships with local, regional and national organizations. This will include outreach to underserved producers to ensure IRA climate funding is reaching those who have been previously unable to access conservation assistance.
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