In This Issue:
Happy first days of Summer!
The past few weeks I have been travelling throughout the State - visiting with producers, ag agencies, and County Offices. While driving by the brown and dry fields, my heart sank wondering if that corn would be knee high by the fourth of July, if that wheat would head, or those soybeans would survive. It is continuing to look very dry in the forecast for the next few weeks. Every year we have new weather challenges that we as producers must adapt to. We hope to see much needed rain soon.
The summer months will go by quickly and I look forward to meeting more farmers at County Fairs, Ag Progress Days, Field days, farm visits, and during County Office visits! Every day that I am in the field I learn about your successes and challenges. I appreciate all of you and the incredibly important work that independent and family farms are doing every day, 365 days out of the year!
I do want to remind you all that the 2023 County Committee nominations period began on June 15, 2023, and ends on August 1, 2023. Nominations must be postmarked or received in the local county offices by August 1, 2023. Our County Committees are the eyes and ears of the producers who elect them. Any agricultural producer who participates or cooperates in an FSA program may be nominated as a candidate for the County Committee. Additionally, organizations representing minority and women agricultural producers may nominate candidates. It is important that our county committee elections reflect Pennsylvania’s cultural diversity and the diversity of our agricultural operations. Producers can find out if their Local Administrative Area (LAA) is up for election this year, and if they are eligible to vote, by contacting their local FSA county office. Nominate yourself or your neighbor. Additional information and resources on FSA county committees – like information on eligibility requirements, nomination forms, fact sheets and brochures – can be found at fsa.usda.gov/elections . This is an opportunity to represent the priorities of producers, your neighbors and friends, and serve as the voice(s) of your community.
We are excited to announce that we have hired our Philadelphia Urban Ag County Executive Director and Program Technician. Our office in Philadelphia is slated to open soon! FSA and NRCS will be planning a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate this historic and significant occasion. We are looking forward to having a physical space in Philadelphia but what we are most eager about is being close to and serving our urban producers and our urban agriculture communities. Philadelphia is just the beginning. This is a statewide initiative, and we are here to serve all rural and urban Pennsylvania producers.
Have a fabulous Fourth of July!
From our farm gate to yours-
Heidi Secord
|
Agricultural producers in Pennsylvania who have not yet completed their crop acreage reports after planting should make an appointment with their U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) service center before the applicable deadline.
An acreage report documents a crop grown on a farm or ranch and its intended uses. Filing an accurate and timely acreage report for all crops and land uses, including failed acreage and prevented planted acreage, can prevent the loss of benefits.
How to File a Report
The following acreage reporting dates are applicable in Pennsylvania:
June 15, 2023 -Spring Seeded Small Grains
July 17, 2023 - Corn, Soybeans, CRP, Perennial Forage, Hemp and all other crops
August 15, 2023 - Beans, Cabbage
Acreage reporting dates vary by crop and by county. Contact your local FSA office for a list of acreage reporting deadlines by crop.
To file a crop acreage report, producers need to provide:
- Crop and crop type or variety.
- Intended use of the crop.
- Number of acres of the crop.
- Map with approximate boundaries for the crop.
- Planting date(s).
- Planting pattern, when applicable.
- Producer shares.
- Irrigation practice(s).
- Acreage prevented from planting, when applicable.
- Other information as required.
Acreage Reporting Details
The following exceptions apply to acreage reporting dates:
- If the crop has not been planted by the acreage reporting date, then the acreage must be reported no later than 15 calendar days after planting is completed.
- If a producer acquires additional acreage after the acreage reporting date, then the acreage must be reported no later than 30 calendar days after purchase or acquiring the lease. Appropriate documentation must be provided to the county office.
- If crops are covered by the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, acreage reports should be submitted by the applicable state, county, or crop-specific reporting deadline or 15 calendar days before grazing or harvesting of the crop begins.
Producers should also report crop acreage they intended to plant, but due to natural disaster, were unable to because of a natural disaster.
Prevented planting acreage must be reported on form CCC-576, Notice of Loss, no later than 15 calendar days after the final planting date as established by FSA and USDA’s Risk Management Agency.
FSA offers continuous certification for perennial forage. This means after perennial forage is reported once and the producer elects continuous certification, the certification remains in effect until a change is made. Check with FSA at the local USDA Service Center for more information on continuous certification.
New Option to View, Print and Label Maps on Farmers.gov
Producers with an eAuth account linked to their USDA customer record can now access their FSA farm records, maps and common land units by logging into farmers.gov. A new feature will allow producers to export field boundaries as shapefiles and import and view other shapefiles, such as precision agriculture boundaries. This will allow producers to view, print and label their own maps for acreage reporting purposes.
Producers who have authority to act on behalf of another customer as a grantee via form FSA-211 Power of Attorney, Business Partner Signature Authority, along with other signature types, or as a member of a business can now access information in the farmers.gov portal.
Producers can learn how to use the farmers.gov Farm Records Mapping functionality with this fact sheet and these video tutorials.
More Information
Producers can make an appointment to report acres by contacting their local USDA Service Center.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting nominations for county committee members for elections that will occur later this year. Additionally, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is unveiling a new GIS tool to make it easier for producers to participate in the nomination and election processes for county committee members, who make important decisions on how federal farm programs are administered locally.
All nomination forms for the 2023 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2023.
Elections will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for members. LAAs are elective areas for FSA committees in a single county or multi-county jurisdiction and they may include LAAs that are focused on an urban or suburban area.
Customers can locate their LAA through a new GIS locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections.
Agricultural producers may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee if they:
- Participate or cooperate in a USDA program; and
- Reside in the LAA that is up for election this year.
A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or received program benefits. Individuals may nominate themselves or others and qualifying organizations may also nominate candidates. USDA encourages minority producers, women and beginning farmers or ranchers to nominate, vote and hold office.
Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the agricultural community serve on FSA county committees. The committees are made up of three to 11 members who serve three-year terms. Committee members are vital to how FSA carries out disaster programs, as well as conservation, commodity and price support programs, county office employment and other agricultural issues.
Urban and Suburban County Committees
The 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to form urban county committees as well as make other advancements related to urban agriculture, including the establishment of the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. FSA established county committees specifically focused on urban agriculture. The urban county committees will work to encourage and promote urban, indoor and other emerging agricultural production practices. Additionally, the new county committees may address areas such as food access, community engagement, support of local activities to promote and encourage community compost and food waste reduction.
Urban committee members are nominated and elected to serve by local urban producers in the same jurisdiction. Urban county committee members will provide outreach to ensure urban producers understand USDA programs and serve as the voice of other urban producers and assist in program implementation that support the needs of the growing urban community.
County committees for urban agriculture are located in 17 cities across the U.S. including Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
More Information
Producers should contact their local FSA office today to register and find out how to get involved in their county’s election, including if their LAA is up for election this year. To be considered, a producer must be registered and sign an FSA-669A nomination form. Urban farmers should use an FSA-669-A-3 for urban county committees. Nomination forms and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at fsa.usda.gov/elections.
Election ballots will be mailed to eligible voters beginning Nov. 6, 2023.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is updating the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase Two to provide a method for valuing losses and accessing program benefits to eligible producers of certain crops, including grapes grown and used by the same producer for wine production or forage that is grown, stored and fed to livestock, that do not generate revenue directly from the sale of the crop. These updates ensure that ERP benefits are more reflective of these producers’ actual crop losses resulting from 2020 and 2021 natural disaster events. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin accepting ERP Phase Two applications from eligible wine grape and forage producers once this technical correction to ERP is published in the Federal Register and becomes effective, which it anticipates will be on Friday, June 16, 2023. The deadline to submit applications for ERP Phase Two is July 14.
Background
In January 2023, FSA announced ERP Phase Two, designed to wrap-up and fill remaining gaps in previous natural disaster assistance for 2020 and 2021.
To be eligible for ERP Phase Two, producers must have suffered a decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020 or 2021 due to necessary expenses related to losses of eligible crops from a qualifying natural disaster event. Assistance is primarily for producers of crops that were not covered by Federal Crop Insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program since crops covered by Federal Crop Insurance and NAP were included in the assistance under ERP Phase One administered in 2022.
Determining Crop Value
Producers of certain crops now have a method for including crop value in their allowable gross revenue for the purpose of determining ERP Phase 2 benefits.
The value of the eligible crop intended for on-farm use will be based on the producer’s actual production of the crop and a price for the crop as determined by FSA’s Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs based on the best available data for each crop such as published crop price data or the average price obtained by other producers in the area. Acceptable, published sources including but are not limited to Federal Crop Insurance Corporation established prices, FSA established National Crop Table prices and National Agricultural Statistic Service prices.
Revenue and pricing guidelines for expected revenue for wine grapes and on-farm forage is available online for producer reference and convenience when applying for ERP Phase Two.
Wine grape and forage producers who have already submitted their ERP Phase Two applications to FSA have the option of revising the application and updating their allowable gross revenue to include crop value if applicable.
Producers of crops grown for on-farm use other than wine grapes and forage may request consideration to use a crop’s value in their allowable gross revenue. Submit requests to RA.FSA.DCWA2.ppb@wdc.usda.gov. FSA’s Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs will review submitted requests.
Additional Technical Corrections – Conservation Programs
In addition to emergency relief policy updates, FSA has also established policy corrections for the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP). The policy correction clarifies that federal payments received for the same practice will be considered duplicative assistance for producers who receive ECP and EFRP program payments. The revised program provisions are related to program updates FSA announced in January that give more farmers, ranchers, and tribes the opportunity to apply for and access programs that support recovery following natural disasters (see January 10, 2023 news release for more information).
ECP and EFRP provide financial and technical assistance to restore conservation practices like fencing, damaged farmland or forests following natural disasters.
More Information
FSA offers an online ERP tool to help producers determine what is considered allowable gross revenue..
Producers should contact their local FSA office to make an appointment to apply for ERP Phase Two. Producers should also keep in mind that July 15 is a major deadline to complete acreage reports for most crops. FSA encourages producers to complete the ERP Phase Two application and acreage report during the same office visit. Applications for the Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program, a revenue-based program for losses resulting from the pandemic, can also be completed.
For more information, view the ERP Phase Two Fact Sheet, PARP Fact Sheet, the ERP Phase Two-PARP Comparison Fact Sheet, ERP Phase Two application video tutorial, PARP application video tutorial, myth-buster blog or contact your local USDA Service Center.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced its selection of 50 projects for potential award, totaling approximately $300 million. These innovative projects will help improve access to land, capital, and markets for underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. The Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (Increasing Land Access) Program, which is funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, works to increase access to farm ownership opportunities, improve results for those with heirs’ property or fractionated land, increase access to markets and capital that affect the ability to access land, and improve land ownership, land succession and agricultural business planning.
Examples of selectees for potential award include:
-
Community Development Corporation of Oregon will work to provide long term and sustainable land access to disadvantaged refugee and immigrant beginning farmers in Oregon’s east Multnomah and Clackamas counties. A few of the goals of the project are to purchase the currently rented farm, reduce the net cost of the land through a conservation or working lands easement, and provide an equitable and engaging process of education and training about cooperative land ownership, finance concepts, and related USDA programs.
-
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin will work to establish an equity capital fund to provide support for Tribal producers’ land, equipment, and operational needs. Additionally, this project will work to provide targeted technical assistance to Tribal producers in developing comprehensive farm and food business plans, including conservation plans to support expanded production and access to the full suite of USDA and other support resources.
-
Workin’ Rootz will work to increase access to land and capacity-building at five urban farms/community market gardens in Detroit which include Workin’ Roots Farm, Love n’ Labor, Foster Patch Community Garden, Love Earth Herbal, and Urban Bush Sistahs. These farms will serve as resource hubs by sharing infrastructure (tiller, lawn tractor, wash and pack, cooler storage, etc.) with other urban farmers and gardeners in their prospective neighborhoods.
-
Maine Farmland Trust will work with low-income farmers on access to low-interest capital for land purchase or business operations, farm upgrades and infrastructure investments that promote viability, technical assistance in the areas of real estate and business planning, and more.
-
Alabama A&M University, in collaboration with four other 1890 land grant universities (Southern University, Alcorn State University, Fort Valley State University, and Tennessee State University) and many other local organizations, will provide delivery of technical assistance to underserved farm populations in chronically and economically depressed communities of Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi to ensure the success of existing farmers and ranchers and to rapidly increase the numbers of small farm operators in the targeted communities.
The tentative selectees include national, regional, and local projects that cover 40 states and territories including Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. USDA will work with the selected applicants to finalize the scope and funding levels in the coming months.
Environmental Assessment
These projects will likely result in the purchase of land, construction of farm infrastructure and other activities that could have potential impacts on environmental resources. USDA has developed a Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the Increasing Land Access Program to evaluate the program’s overarching environmental impacts as they relate to the National Environmental Policy Act.
The environmental assessment is available online for public review. USDA is requesting comments on the program’s potential impact on the environment. The feedback will be incorporated into the final assessment, as appropriate, prior to a decision.
USDA will consider comments received by Friday, July 14, 2023, at 5 p.m. EDT. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent possible. Comments may be submitted:
- Electronically at: Access@usda.gov
- By mail at: Attn: Michael Mannigan, Grants Management Specialist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, Outreach Office, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC, 20250-0506
For more information, contact Michael Mannigan at Land.Access@usda.gov. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication should contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice).
More Information
The Increasing Land Access Program was originally announced in August 2022 as part of a broader investment to help ensure underserved producers have the resources, tools, programs and technical support they need to succeed and is being funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Increasing Land Access Program is part of USDA’s commitment to equity across the Department and steps it has taken under Secretary Vilsack’s direction to improve equity and access, eliminate barriers to its programs for underserved individuals and communities, and build a workforce more representative of America. Earlier in the year, the USDA Equity Commission, which is comprised of independent members from diverse backgrounds, released its interim recommendations to remove barriers to inclusion and access at USDA. The program is also an important component of the Department’s and President Biden’s vision to Advance Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. To learn more, visit usda.gov.
USDA announced that nearly $130 million in additional, automatic financial assistance has been obligated for qualifying farm loan program borrowers who are facing financial risk. The announcement is part of the $3.1 billion to help distressed farm loan borrowers that was provided through Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Since the IRA was signed by President Biden in August 2022, including the payments announced today, USDA is providing approximately $1.1 billion in immediate assistance to more than 20,000 distressed borrowers.
Borrowers who received these automatic payments include Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct loan borrowers whose interest exceeded principle owed on outstanding debts; borrowers who had a balance up to 60 days past due as of Sept. 30, 2022 and remained delinquent; and borrowers with a recent restructure between Feb. 28, 2020, through March 27, 2023, or who had accepted an offer to restructure on or before March 27, 2023, but had not yet closed that restructure.
Individual Applications for Farmers Seeking Assistance
In May, FSA will begin accepting and reviewing individual distressed borrower assistance requests from direct loan borrowers who missed a recent installment or are unable to make their next scheduled installment. All FSA borrowers should have received a letter detailing the process for seeking this type of assistance even before they become delinquent. As the letter details, borrowers who are within two months of their next installment may seek a cashflow analysis from FSA using a recent balance sheet and operating plan to determine their eligibility. Also in May, FSA borrowers will receive a letter detailing a new opportunity to receive assistance if they took certain extraordinary measures to avoid delinquency on their loans, such as taking on or refinancing more debt, selling property, or cashing out retirement or college savings accounts. FSA also plans to begin working through these types of cases in May.
As USDA learns more about the types of situations financially distressed farmers are facing, the Department will continue to update borrowers and the public about new eligibility criteria. USDA will also provide regular updates about its progress in deploying this funding to farmers who need it.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 represents the single largest investment in climate and clean energy solutions in American history. It provides $19.5 billion from fiscal years 2023 to 2027 for climate smart agriculture through several of the conservation programs that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) implements. Last February, NRCS announced it was making $850 million of those funds available in fiscal year 2023 for its oversubscribed conservation programs – the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).
NRCS is well on its way to implementing IRA in fiscal year 2023, and we’re planning for 2024 and beyond. In past years, producer demand for conservation assistance through these programs has outpaced available funding. We’re excited that many producers can now benefit from this additional funding, and we’re preparing for the additional help they will need to implement these climate change mitigation practices.
Locally, we’re getting funding out to individual producers, and we’re improving and streamlining programs to make it easier to sign up.
- So far in fiscal year (FY) 2023, NRCS is ahead of historical rates in obligating financial assistance for conservation programs and has obligated more than 19,500 contracts, compared to an average of just over 12,000 at this same time over the last 4 years.
- Since announcing the availability of FY 2023 IRA funds in February, we have had over 10,000 applications for IRA in EQIP and CSP—and that number is growing every day. We’re currently receiving an average of 29 IRA applications per hour for CSP and EQIP combined.
Producers need to know that NRCS accepts applications for our conservation programs year-round. And, no matter when they apply, their application will automatically carry over for consideration in future funding cycles. We encourage producers to apply now so that they can take advantage of this opportunity for additional funding over the next few years. To receive consideration for the current funding cycle in FY23, producers should apply by their state’s program ranking dates.
We expect to announce funding recommendations for ACEP soon. The national ranking date for ACEP closed on March 17, 2023, and we received over $174 million in request for the $65 million of available funding. And, as part of the ongoing effort to streamline our conservation programs, ensure that they are more convenient to utilize, and to help strengthen IRA implementation, we announced improvements to ACEP on May 9.
We’re getting funding out to partners.
We are also getting funding out to partners through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, a partner-driven program that leverages partner resources to advance innovative projects that address issues such as climate change. On May 19, we announced that applications were being accepted through August 18, 2023, for RCPP Classic and RCPP Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFA). Projects selected under this funding opportunity may be awarded through either Farm Bill 2018 or IRA funding, however applications for RCPP climate-related projects will receive priority consideration for IRA funding.
These and many other efforts are continuing in 2023 and beyond. NRCS will continue to keep partners and producers informed about new funding opportunities, recruitment efforts, partnerships available, and plans for IRA implementation in the years ahead.
USDA is seeking nominations for four positions on the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. Nominations will be open to public from May 15, 2023, to July 15, 2023. The 12-member Committee, which first convened in March 2022, is part of USDA’s efforts to increase support for urban agriculture and innovative production. Members of the Committee provide input on policy development and help identify barriers to urban agriculture as USDA works to promote urban farming and the economic opportunities it provides in cities across the country.
Members of the Committee include agricultural producers and representatives from the areas of higher education or extension programs, non-profits, business and economic development, supply chains and financing. The Committee last met in April 2023.
Nominations
USDA is seeking nominations for individuals representing a broad spectrum of expertise. Four positions are open for nominations including:
- One individual representing urban agriculture.
- One individual representing an institution of higher education or extension program.
- One individual representing business and economic development, which may include a business development entity, community development initiatives, a chamber of commerce, a city government or a planning organization.
- One individual representing related experience in urban, indoor and other emerging agriculture production practices.
Individuals who wish to be considered for membership must submit a nomination package including the following:
- A completed background disclosure form (Form AD-755) signed by the nominee; https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-755.pdf.
- A brief summary explaining the nominee's interest in one or more open vacancies including any unique qualifications that address the membership composition and criteria described above.
- A resume providing the nominee's background, experience, and educational qualifications.
- Recent publications by the nominee relative to extending support for urban agriculture or innovative production (optional).
- Letter(s) of endorsement (optional).
Nomination packages must be submitted by email to UrbanAgricultureFederalAdvisoryCommittee@usda.gov or postmarked by July 15, 2023. If sending by mail, packages should be addressed to the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 4627-S, Washington, DC 20250. Any interested person or organization may nominate qualified individuals for membership, including self-nominations. For special accommodations, contact Markus Holliday at UrbanAgricultureFederalAdvisoryCommittee@usda.gov.
Additional details are available in the Federal Register notice.
|
