In This Issue:
 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun issuing more than $1.75 billion in emergency relief payments to eligible farmers and livestock producers. These much-needed payments are helping farming and ranching operations recover following natural disasters in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Emergency Relief Program Phase Two
FSA is closing out Phase Two of the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) this week through the delivery of more than $1.17 billion in crop disaster assistance payments to producers of eligible crops who suffered losses, measured through decreases in revenue, due to qualifying natural disaster events that occurred in calendar years 2020 and 2021. ERP Phase Two was intended primarily for producers of crops that were not covered by federal crop insurance or FSA’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). Previously, through ERP Phase one, FSA staff processed more than 300,000 applications and paid an estimated 217,000 eligible producers more than $7.4 billion.
Emergency Livestock Relief Program
This week, FSA will issue more than $581 million in 2021 and 2022 drought and wildfire emergency relief to eligible ranchers.
FSA is closing out the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) for losses suffered in 2021. ELRP Phase Two payments are estimated at $115.7 million. Ranchers who lost grazing acres due to drought and wildfire and received assistance through ELRP Phase One will soon receive an additional payment through ELRP Phase Two. This second payment will be equal to 20% of the 2021 gross ELRP Phase One payment. ELRP Phase Two payments to producers will be automatic with no application required. In April 2022, FSA staff processed more than 100,000 payments through ELRP Phase One and paid eligible ranchers more than $600 million for 2021 grazing losses.
In 2022, ranchers continued to experience significant loss of grazing acres due to drought and wildfire. To help mitigate these losses, eligible ranchers will receive ELRP disaster assistance payments for increases in supplemental feed costs. To expedite payments, determine producer eligibility and calculate the ELRP 2022 payment, FSA is using livestock inventories and drought-affected forage acreage or restricted animal units and grazing days due to wildfire already reported to FSA by ranchers when they submitted their Livestock Forage Disaster Program applications. ELRP payments for 2022 losses are estimated at $465.4 million and will be automatic with no application required.
More Information
These programs represent a few of FSA’s extensive commodity, conservation, credit, disaster recovery and safety-net programs. By the close of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, for all farm and farm loan programs — including vital access to capital for distressed borrowers — USDA, through the delivery of FSA programs, will have invested more than $19 billion in America’s agricultural producers with more economic support on the way in fiscal year 2024.
For more information on available FSA programs, contact your local USDA Service Center.
 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a new online tool to help farmers and ranchers better navigate the farm loan application process. This uniform application process will help to ensure all farm loan applicants receive equal support and have a consistent customer experience with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) regardless of their individual circumstances.
USDA experiences a high rate of incomplete or withdrawn applications, particularly among underserved customers, due in part to a challenging and lengthy paper-based application process. The Loan Assistance Tool is available 24/7 and gives customers an online step-by-step guide that supplements the support they receive when working in person with a USDA employee, providing materials that may help an applicant prepare their loan application in one tool.
Farmers can access the Loan Assistance Tool by visiting farmers.gov/farm-loan-assistance-tool and clicking the ‘Get Started’ button. From here they can follow the prompts to complete the Eligibility Self-Assessment and start the farm loan journey. The tool is built to run on any modern browser like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or the Safari browser, and is fully functional on mobile devices. It does not work in Internet Explorer.
The Loan Assistance Tool is the first of multiple farm loan process improvements that will be available to USDA customers on farmers.gov in the future. Other improvements and tools that are anticipated to launch in 2023 include:
- A streamlined and simplified direct loan application, reduced from 29 pages to 13 pages.
- An interactive online direct loan application that gives customers a paperless and electronic signature option, along with the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns.
- An online direct loan repayment feature that relieves borrowers from the necessity of calling, mailing, or visiting a local Service Center to pay a loan installment.
Taking their chance on a lifelong dream, former urban dwellers Rebecca and Mark Ginsberg traded their conventional city lifestyle for rural living, establishing a cut flower farm. For the New Jersey couple it felt like a moonshot, but they believed they could do it.
Initially, they used fossil fuels to heat the year-round greenhouse, but soon turned to the USDA Rural Development for a more environmentally friendly solution.
Through a Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant in the amount of $24,193, they converted Moonshot Farm LLC from heating with propane pumps to using geothermal technology.
The new system is much more efficient. One unit of electric energy used by the geothermal heat pump produces at least four units of heat- a realization of 400 percent efficiency! In addition, it will put money back in their pockets, saving over $5,000 of propane annually.
Surrounded by Dahlias, Lisianthus, and Mums and beaming with pride, Rebecca shared how thrilled she is to be growing flowers year-round from her renewably powered greenhouses.
“Our flowers are beautiful, locally-grown, and have a low carbon footprint, she says. For us, having the geothermal system has been an immediate bottom-line revenue boost.”
She says, “We are now able to grow our flowers in the dead of winter, and the marketing appeal of locally grown with renewable energy has been huge, with customers coming from all over the region.”
She recommends REAP for other farmers looking to install renewable energy technology, which could include geothermal, solar, biomass, wind, or other renewable systems, and can also include the installation of more energy-efficient equipment such as lighting or refrigeration.
“We are very eager to get other farmers using this technology. Not only is it way more environmentally friendly than propane and natural gas but with the USDA’s programs and the new tax credits it actually makes financial sense.”
USDA Rural Development New Jersey State Director Jane Asselta adds, “Moonshot Farms is a success story we tell often to encourage farmers to make the switch to greener, cleaner, more efficient energy systems for their greenhouses, hoop houses and tunnels. With our grant funds, we make money saving, energy efficiency projects even more affordable.”
The Rural Energy for America Program can help agricultural producers and rural small businesses with installing renewable energy systems or making energy efficiency improvements. Agricultural producers may also apply for new energy efficient equipment and new system loans for agricultural production and processing. For more information contact Maryanne Tancredi at maryann.tancredi@usda.gov or (856)-787-7752
Story by Emily Cannon
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 USDA has a new crop insurance program designed for agricultural producers who use controlled environments in their operations. It’s tailored to producers who grow plants in fully enclosed controlled environments, including urban, specialty crop, and organic producers. It provides coverage against plant diseases subject to destruction orders. USDA’s Risk Management Agency will be hosting informational sessions for interested producers and public; two virtually on Oct. 5 and 10, and one in-person one in Hudsonville, Mich. on the Oct. 12.
Learn More...
USDA announced Milk Loss Program (MLP) assistance for eligible dairy operations for milk that was dumped or removed, without compensation, from the commercial milk market due to qualifying weather events and the consequences of those weather events that inhibited delivery or storage of milk (e.g., power outages, impassable roads, infrastructure losses, etc.) during calendar years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), signup for MLP begins Sept. 11 and runs through Oct. 16, 2023.
Background
On Dec. 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 117-43), providing $10 billion for crop losses, including milk losses due to qualifying disaster events that occurred in calendar years 2020 and 2021. Additionally, the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub. L. 117-328) provides approximately $3 billion for disaster assistance for similar losses that occurred in calendar year 2022.
Eligibility
MLP compensates dairy operations for milk dumped or removed without compensation from the commercial milk market due to qualifying disaster events, including droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), and smoke exposure that occurred in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 calendar years. Tornadoes are considered a qualifying disaster event for calendar year 2022 only.
The milk loss claim period is each calendar month that milk was dumped or removed from the commercial market. Each MLP application covers the loss in a single calendar month. Milk loss that occurs in more than one calendar month due to the same qualifying weather event requires a separate application for each month.
The days that are eligible for assistance begin on the date the milk was removed or dumped and for concurrent days milk was removed or dumped. Once the dairy operation restarts milk marketing, the dairy operation is ineligible for assistance unless after restarting commercial milk marketing, additional milk is dumped due to the same qualifying disaster event. The duration of yearly claims is limited to 30 days per year for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
How to Apply
To apply for MLP, producers must submit:
- FSA-376, Milk Loss Program Application
- Milk marketing statement from the:
- Month prior to the month milk was removed or dumped.
- Affected month.
- Detailed written statement of milk removal circumstances, including the weather event type and geographic scope, what transportation limitations occurred and any information on what was done with the removed milk.
- Any other information required by the regulation.
If not previously filed with FSA, applicants must also submit all the following items within 60 days of the MLP application deadline:
- Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet.
- Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual or legal entity.
- Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities (if applicable).
- Form FSA-510, Request for an Exception to the $125,000 Payment Limitation for Certain Programs (if applicable).
- Form CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification, (if applicable).
- A highly erodible land conservation (sometimes referred to as HELC) and wetland conservation certification (Form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification) for the MLP producer and applicable affiliates.
Most producers, especially those who have previously participated in FSA programs, will likely have these required forms already on file. However, those who are uncertain or want to confirm the status of their forms can contact their local FSA county office.
MLP Payment Calculation
The final MLP payment is determined by factoring the MLP payment calculation by the applicable MLP payment percentage.
The calculation for determining MLP payment is:
- ((Base period per cow average daily milk production x the number of milking cows in a claim period x the number of days milk was removed or dumped in a claim period) ÷ 100) x pay price per hundredweight (cwt.).
For MLP payment calculations, the milk loss base period is the first full month of production before the dumping or removal occurred.
The MLP payment percentage will be 90% for underserved producers, including socially disadvantaged, beginning, limited resource, and veteran farmers and ranchers and 75% for all other producers.
To qualify for the higher payment percentage, eligible producers must have a CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification, form on file with FSA for the 2022 program year.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) limitations do not apply to MLP, however the payment limitation for MLP is determined by the person’s or legal entity’s average adjusted gross farm income (income derived from farming, ranching and forestry operations). Specifically, a person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or general partnership, cannot receive, directly or indirectly, more than $125,000 in payments under MLP if their average adjusted gross farm income is less than 75% of their average AGI or more than $250,000 if their adjusted gross farm income is at least 75% of their average AGI.
More Information
In other FSA dairy safety-net support, Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program payments have triggered every month, January through July, for producers who obtained coverage for the 2023 program year. July 2023’s income over feed margin of $3.52 per hundredweight (cwt.) is the lowest margin since DMC program benefits to dairy producers started in 2019. To date, FSA has paid more than $1 billion in DMC benefits to covered dairy producers for the 2023 program year.
Additionally, FSA closed the Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP) application period on Aug. 11.
On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet and Loan Assistance Tool can help producers and landowners determine program or loan options. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent. For FSA and NRCS programs, they should contact their local USDA Service Center.
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Don't Always have Time to Read Our Newsletters, but Don't Want to Miss Important News and Deadlines? Sign up for SMS Texting!
Farmers, ranchers, partners and stakeholders can now subscribe to receive free text message communications directly from us and your local USDA Service Center for information related to loans, farm disaster assistance, conservation programs, crop insurance and other USDA programs.
USDA will send news and updates through text message subscription through govDelivery, a communication technology service for government agencies. The digital communications platform is secure and subscriber contact information will not be shared.
How to Subscribe
Subscribe to text alerts from your local USDA Service Center by visiting https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAFARMERS/subscriber/new, choosing the subscription type to "SMS/Text Messaging" and entering your phone number or text NJYOURCOUNTY (for example, NJMERCER) to 372-669. Standard text messaging rates apply. Contact your wireless carrier for details associated with your particular data plan. Participants may unsubscribe at any time.
For more information visit farmers.gov/working-with-us/stay-connected or for subscription assistance contact your local USDA Service Center
Join the Regenerative Farm Network (RFN-NJ) with NRCS soil scientist, Fred Schoenagel, to visit a couple farm fields on Thursday, November 2nd in Stockton, NJ from 8:30am - 3:00pm. Fred will do a soils investigation in both fields. Farmers will learn some insights on what they can look for in their own fields before making management changes or troubleshooting a field that is not performing optimally.
We've got a couple exciting demos at the fields! Then we'll enjoy a boxed lunch at the Prallsville Mill followed by a presentation with consultant Sarah Crooke. Sarah will discuss how to collect soil samples and how to interpret soil lab results, followed by a Q&A. Wrap up the day networking with fellow farmers, discuss regenerative practices, or just hang out!
Learn more and register here: https://northjerseyrcdconference.regfox.com/soils-field-day
Questions or comments? Contact Sam at sloscalzo@northjerseyrcd.org or NJ RC&D staff at 908.574.5368.
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The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in New Jersey is now accepting FY2024 applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), climate-smart practices through EQIP funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) program, and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
While NRCS accepts applications year-round, New Jersey producers and landowners should apply by October 20, 2023 to be considered for funding in the current cycle.
Learn more....
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The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) helps you manage risk through coverage for both crop losses and crop planting that was prevented due to natural disasters. The eligible or “noninsured” crops include agricultural commodities not covered by federal crop insurance.
You must be enrolled in the program and have purchased coverage for the eligible crop in the crop year and county in which the loss incurred to receive program benefits following a qualifying natural disaster.
The next closing deadline for New Jersey is November 20th for apricots, cherries, peaches, pears, plums, caneberries, grapes, blueberries, onion, and scallions. New Jersey coverage deadlines: by closing date or by crop .
NAP Buy-Up Coverage Option
NAP offers higher levels of coverage, from 50 to 65 percent of expected production in 5 percent increments, at 100 percent of the average market price. Buy-up levels of NAP coverage are available if the producer can show at least one year of previously successfully growing the crop for which coverage is being requested.
Producers of organics and crops marketed directly to consumers also may exercise the “buy-up” option to obtain NAP coverage of 100 percent of the average market price at the coverage levels of between 50 and 65 percent of expected production.
NAP basic coverage is available at 55 percent of the average market price for crop losses that exceed 50 percent of expected production.
Buy-up coverage is not available for crops intended for grazing.
NAP Service Fees
For all coverage levels, the NAP service fee is the lesser of $325 per crop or $825 per producer per county, not to exceed a total of $1,950 for a producer with farming interests in multiple counties.
NAP Fee Waivers and Premium Reductions
Qualified veteran farmers or ranchers are eligible for a service fee waiver and premium reduction, if the NAP applicant meets certain eligibility criteria.
Beginning, limited resource and targeted underserved farmers are eligible for a waiver of NAP service fees and premium reductions when they file form CCC-860, “Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource and Beginning Farmer or Rancher Certification.”
Related Losses
NAP covers losses for the crop(s) you lose; losses to your trees, vines a bushes may be eligible for financial assistance through the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) which assists orchardists and nursery tree growers with the replanting or rehabilitating eligible trees, bushes, and vines lost by natural disasters.
For NAP application, eligibility and related program information, contact your USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/nap
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will cover up to 75% of the costs associated with organic certification, up to $750 per category, through the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP). USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) encourages agricultural producers and handlers to apply for OCCSP by Nov. 1, 2023, for expenses incurred from Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2023.
As part of USDA’s broader effort to support organic producers and in response to stakeholder feedback, this year FSA increased the cost share to the maximum amount allowed by statute.
Cost Share for 2023
The cost share provides financial assistance for organic certification, and producers and handlers are eligible to receive 75% of the costs, up to $750, for crops, wild crops, livestock, processing/handling and state organic program fees (California only).
Producers have until Oct. 31, 2023, to file applications, and FSA will make payments as applications are received.
How to Apply
To apply, organic producers and handlers should contact their local USDA Service Center. As part of completing the OCCSP application, producers and handlers will need to provide documentation of their organic certification and eligible expenses.
Organic producers and handlers may also apply for OCCSP through department of agriculture. Additional details can be found on the OCCSP webpage.
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