USDA - Missouri State Office Newsletter-February 2024

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US Department of Agriculture

USDA- Missouri State Office Newsletter  - February 29, 2024


What's Happening Today at FSA

Play Video: What's Happening Today in MO FSA

This past week, I had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC, which I have done on numerous occasions with my present position. If you and your family are looking for a good spot for a vacation, I would highly recommend our Nation’s Capital.  I know that we have many negative issues to deal with in our Nation, but each time that I see the Capital Building, White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King Memorial, World War I or Vietnam Memorial, I quickly realize that I am glad that I live in our Country, and I am proud to be an American.

ARC-PLC Sign Up- The enrollment for the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs is now taking place in County Service Centers across the state. The ARC program may provide a payment when the yield for a particular crop falls below the county average and the PLC program may provide a payment when the average price of a particular crop falls below the national reference price. The ARC and PLC enrollment will run until March 15.

DMC Enrollment- The enrollment period for the Dairy Margin Coverage program (DMC) just opened on February 28.  The DMC program provides a payment to producers who raise Dairy Cattle, when the difference between the price of milk and the price of feed for Dairy Cattle is less than normal. The sign up for this program will run until April 29 in each County Service Center.

ERP 2022- Enrollment is now taking place for the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) for the year 2022.  The ERP 2022 program is for producers who experienced a significant crop loss during 2022, due to adverse weather conditions. Track 1 of this program is for producers who either have Crop Insurance or NAP Insurance through FSA, and producers who are potentially eligible for this program should have been notified by your FSA office. Track 2 of this program is for producers who had damage but did not receive an indemnity from Crop or NAP Insurance.

Crop Acreage Reporting- Looking ahead, don’t forget that the sign-up deadline for Crop Acreage reporting is July 15 for the majority of Missouri crops and it will be here before you know it. The Crop Acreage report is the most important report for a producer to complete because the crop and acreage numbers in the report play a major role in determining which FSA programs that a producer might qualify for. Check with your County Service Center to obtain more information about this report.

Stay in Touch with your County Service Center- I strongly encourage all of you to stay in touch with your local County Service Center, and to visit your center on a regular basis. We have some very caring and knowledgeable staff members in each of our Service Centers, and they can provide you with quite a lot of information about all of our FSA programs and services, as well as assist you in enrolling for the various programs.

As we approach the beginning of the planting season, I wish all of you the best of luck and I hope that this is your most productive year yet.

This month I discuss various FSA programs with the Missouri Executive Officer, Jeremy Mosley. Click Here to view.


Agricultural Producers Have Until March 15 to Enroll in USDA’s Key Commodity Safety Net Programs for the 2024 Crop Year

Call Today To Make Your Appointment

Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2024 crop year have until March 15, 2024, to revise elections and sign contracts. Both safety net programs, delivered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provide vital income support to farmers who experience substantial declines in crop prices or revenues for the 2024 crop year. In Missouri, producers have completed almost 60,000 contracts to date, representing 73% of the more than 80,000 expected contracts statewide.

Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County or PLC, which provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual, which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2024 are optional, producers must enroll, with a signed contract, each year. If a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm, the contract will continue for 2024 unless an election change is made.    

If producers do not submit their election revision by the March 15, 2024, deadline, the election remains the same as their 2023 election for eligible commodities on the farm. Also, producers who do not complete enrollment and sign their contract by the deadline will not be enrolled in ARC or PLC for the 2024 year and will not receive a payment if one is triggered. Farm owners can only enroll in these programs if they have a share interest in the commodity.  

Producers are eligible to enroll farms with base acres for the following commodities:  barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.      

Crop Insurance Considerations  

Producers are reminded that enrolling in ARC or PLC programs can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products offered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). Producers who elect and enroll in PLC also have the option of purchasing Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through their Approved Insurance Provider, but producers of covered commodities who elect ARC are ineligible for SCO on their planted acres.  

Unlike SCO, RMA’s Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is unaffected by participating in ARC for the same crop, on the same acres. You may elect ECO regardless of your farm program election.  

Upland cotton farmers who choose to enroll seed cotton base acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible for the stacked income protection plan, or STAX, on their planted cotton acres.  

More Information     

For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact their local USDA Service Center. Producers can also prepare maps for acreage reporting as well as manage farm loans and view other farm records data and customer information by logging into their farmers.gov account. If you don’t have an account, sign up today.  


Dairy Producers Can Enroll for 2024 Dairy Margin Coverage Beginning Feb. 28

Payments to Begin Early March 

Starting next Wednesday, dairy producers will be able to enroll for 2024 Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC), an important safety net program offered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides producers with price support to help offset milk and feed price differences. This year’s DMC signup begins Feb. 28, 2024, and ends April 29, 2024. For those who sign up for 2024 DMC coverage, payments may begin as soon as March 4, 2024, for any payments that triggered in January 2024.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has revised the regulations for DMC to allow eligible dairy operations to make a one-time adjustment to established production history. This adjustment will be accomplished by combining previously established supplemental production history with DMC production history for those dairy operations that participated in Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage during a prior coverage year. DMC has also been authorized through calendar year 2024. Congress passed a 2018 Farm Bill extension requiring these regulatory changes to the program.

DMC is a voluntary risk management program that offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.  In 2023, Dairy Margin Coverage payments triggered in 11 months including two months, June and July, where the margin fell below the catastrophic level of $4.00 per hundredweight, a first for Dairy Margin Coverage or its predecessor Margin Protection Program. 

2024 DMC Coverage and Premium Fees 

FSA has revised DMC regulations to extend coverage for calendar year 2024, which is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024, and to provide an adjustment to the production history for dairy operations with less than 5 million pounds of production. In previous years, smaller dairy operations could establish a supplemental production history and receive Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage. For 2024, dairy producers can establish one adjusted base production history through DMC for each participating dairy operation to better reflect the operation’s current production.

For 2024 DMC enrollment, dairy operations that established supplemental production history through Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage for coverage years 2021 through 2023, will combine the supplemental production history with established production history for one adjusted base production history.  

For dairy operations enrolled in 2023 DMC under a multi-year lock-in contract, lock-in eligibility will be extended until Dec. 31, 2024. In addition, dairy operations enrolled in multi-year lock-in contracts are eligible for the discounted DMC premium rate during the 2024 coverage year. To confirm 2024 DMC lock-in coverage or opt out in favor of an annual contract for 2024, dairy operations having lock-in contracts must enroll during the 2024 DMC enrollment period.     

DMC offers different levels of coverage, even an option that is free to producers, minus a $100 administrative fee. The administrative fee is waived for dairy producers who are considered limited resource, beginning, socially disadvantaged or a military veteran. To determine the appropriate level of DMC coverage for a specific dairy operation, producers can use the online dairy decision tool.  

DMC Payments 

DMC payments are calculated using updated feed and premium hay costs, making the program more reflective of actual dairy producer expenses.  These updated feed calculations use 100% premium alfalfa hay.  

More Information

USDA also offers other risk management tools for dairy producers, including the Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP) plan that protects against a decline in milk revenue (yield and price) and the Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) plan, which provides protection against the loss of the market value of milk minus the feed costs. Both DRP and LGM livestock insurance policies are offered through the Risk Management Agency. Producers should contact their local crop insurance agent for more information. 

For more information on DMC, visit the DMC webpage or contact your local USDA Service Center.  


Missouri Producers Encouraged to Apply for USDA’s Continuous Conservation Reserve Program

Enroll or re-enroll today

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting applications for the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (Continuous CRP). USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) encourages agricultural producers and landowners in Missouri who are interested in conservation opportunities for their land in exchange for yearly rental payments to consider the enrollment options available through Continuous CRP, which also includes the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) offered by FSA partners. Additionally, producers participating in CRP can now apply to re-enroll, if their contracts will expire this year.  

To submit an offer, producers should contact the FSA at their local USDA Service Center by July 31, 2024, in order to have an offer effective by Oct. 1, 2024. To ensure enrollment acreages do not exceed the statutory cap, FSA will accept offers from producers on a first-come, first-served basis and will return offers for approval in batches throughout the year. 

Additionally, producers with acres enrolled in Continuous CRP set to expire Sept. 30, 2024, can now offer acres for re-enrollment. A producer can both enroll new acres into Continuous CRP and re-enroll any acres expiring Sept.30, 2024.  

FSA water quality practices, such as riparian buffers, prairie strips, grassed waterways, and wetlands, will receive an additional 20% incentive. Buffer practices have a positive impact on water quality. Additionally, the Climate-Smart Practice Incentive launched in 2021 is also available in the Continuous signup.    


Missouri USDA Encourages Producers Participating in Conservation Reserve Program to Consider Forest Management Incentive

Enroll or re-enroll today

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering financial assistance to agricultural producers and private landowners enrolled in its Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to improve the health of their forests. The Forest Management Incentive, available through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), can help participants with forest management practices, such as brush management and prescribed burning.

The Forest Management Incentive is available to participants with active CRP contracts with forest cover that are not within two years of expiring. The incentive is a payment to eligible CRP participants who properly completed authorized forest management practice activities to improve the condition of resources, promote forest management and enhance wildlife habitat. 

Forest management practices include brush management, herbaceous weed control, prescribed burning, firebreaks, development of early successional habitat and forest stand improvement. Additional information is available in our Forest Management Incentive fact sheet

Participants can now submit offers for the Forest Management Incentive. Interested producers should contact the FSA at their local USDA Service Center

  The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-169) and the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 (Pub. L. 118-22), extended the authority and provided funding for the Forest Management Incentive until 2031. 

The Forest Management Incentive was launched in 2020 and is one of the many natural resource conservation options available through CRP. Currently, the Forest Management Incentive has participants in 27 states.

Producers not currently participating in CRP can now submit offers for Continuous CRP. Learn more.


USDA Now Accepting Applications for Farm Loans Online

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched an online application for Direct Loan customers. More than 26,000 customers who submit a Direct Loan application each year can now use an online, interactive, guided application that is paperless and provides helpful features including an electronic signature option, the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns, complete a balance sheet and build a farm operating plan. This tool is part of a broader effort by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to streamline its processes, improve customers service, and expand credit access.

The online farm loan application replicates the support an applicant would receive when completing a loan application in person with an FSA Farm Loan Officer, while continuing to provide customers with one-on-one assistance as needed.  This tool and other process improvements allow farmers and ranchers to submit complete loan applications and reduce the number of incomplete and withdrawn applications.

Through a personalized dashboard, borrowers can track the progress of their loan application. It can be accessed on farmers.gov or by completing FSA’s Loan Assistance Tool at farmers.gov/loan-assistance-tool. To use the online loan application tool, producers must establish a USDA customer account and a USDA Level 2 eAuthentication (“eAuth”) account or a Login.gov account. For the initial stage, the online application tool is only available for producers who will be, or are currently, operating their farm as an individual. FSA is expanding the tools availability to married couples applying jointly and other legal entities in 2024.

Farm Loan Improvement Efforts

FSA has a significant initiative underway to streamline and automate Farm Loan Program customer-facing business processes. For the over 26,000 producers who submit a Direct Loan application to FSA annually, and its 85,000 Direct Loan borrowers, FSA has made improvements this year, including:

More Information

FSA continues to accept and review individual requests for assistance from borrowers who took certain extraordinary measures to avoid delinquency on their direct FSA loans or those who missed a recent installment or are unable to make their next scheduled installment. All requests for assistance must be received by Dec. 31, 2023. For more information, or to submit a request for assistance, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center or visit farmers.gov/inflation-reduction-investments/assistance

The Inflation Reduction Act, a historic, once-in-a-generation investment and opportunity for agricultural communities, provided $3.1 billion for USDA to provide relief for distressed borrowers with certain FSA direct and guaranteed loans and to expedite assistance for those whose agricultural operations are at financial risk. Since October 2022, USDA has provided approximately $1.6 billion in immediate assistance to more than 27,000 financially distressed direct and guaranteed FSA loan borrowers.


USDA Now Accepting Farm Loan Payments Online

Pay My Loan feature can be accessed on farmers.gov

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that most farm loan borrowers will soon be able to make payments to their direct loans online through the Pay My Loan feature on farmers.gov in early February. Pay My Loan is part of a broader effort by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to streamline its processes, especially for producers who may have limited time during the planting or harvest seasons to visit a local FSA office; modernize and improve customer service; provide additional customer self-service tools; and expand credit access to assist more producers.  

On average, local USDA Service Centers process more than 225,000 farm loan payments each year. Pay My Loan gives most borrowers an online repayment option and relieves them from needing to call, mail, or visit a Service Center to pay their loan installment. Farm loan payments can now be made at the borrower’s convenience, on their schedule and outside of FSA office hours.  

Pay My Loan also provides time savings for FSA’s farm loan employees by minimizing manual payment processing activities. This new service for producers means that farm loan employees will have more time to focus on reviewing and processing new loans or servicing requests. 

The Pay My Loan feature can be accessed at farmers.gov/loans. To use the payment feature, producers must establish a USDA customer account and a USDA Level 2 eAuthentication (“eAuth”) account or a Login.gov account. This initial release only allows individuals with loans to make online payments. For now, borrowers with jointly payable checks will need to continue to make loan payments through their local office. 

FSA has a significant initiative underway to streamline and automate the Farm Loan Program customer-facing business process. For the over 26,000 producers who submit a direct loan application annually, FSA has made various improvements including:  

  • The Online Loan Application, an interactive, guided application that is paperless and provides helpful features including an electronic signature option, the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns, complete a balance sheet, and build a farm operating plan. 
  • The Loan Assistance Tool that provides customers with an interactive online, step-by-step guide to identifying the direct loan products that may be a fit for their business needs and to understanding the application process.  
  • A simplified direct loan paper application, which reduced loan applications by more than half, from 29 pages to 13 pages.  

More Information  

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.   


More feedback needed from Illinois agricultural landowners on new CRP Menu web tool!

Are you an agricultural landowner in Illinois? We want your input!

We are looking for additional landowners to share ideas and give feedback on the new CRP Menu web tool that aims to provide information about Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) practices in your area. Landowners with all levels of experience with CRP are encouraged to participate. This is a virtual focus group opportunity open to landowners across Missouri, Mississippi, and Illinois.

Space is limited and registration is required to receive the access link. To register for a workshop, use this link:  https://crpmenu.gri.msstate.edu/Workshops 

Landowners who participate will receive a $25 Walmart gift card (limit one per household; previous participants are ineligible). Gift cards will be mailed following the workshops. 

Virtual Workshop Dates:

March 5th 

March 7th 

March 19th 

*All times 10:00AM - 12:00PM

For questions or more information, contact:

Dixie Cartwright
Mississippi State University
dixie@gri.msstate.edu


Every Successful Farm Starts with a Plan

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) works to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners invest in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working, boost rural economies, increase the competitiveness of American agriculture and improve the quality of our air, water, soil and wildlife habitat.

Simply put – NRCS helps America’s farmers, ranchers and forestland owners make conservation work for them.

Our Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) program enables every acre of voluntary conservation applied through every program NRCS administers. It is the foundation of our financial and technical assistance delivery system.

Every farm and acre is unique and requires tailored management; and every decision maker has different management concerns and needs. Our technical assistance is one-on-one, personalized advice and support to help producers make the best decisions for their lands – and is offered free of charge.

This personalized assistance provides producers with the science-based data and tools to make informed decisions about where to target efforts to get the greatest return on their investment and ensure the long-term sustainability of American agriculture.

A comprehensive conservation plan is the first step to managing all the natural resources on a farm. NRCS walks the farm with the producer and develops options to address that producer’s needs. Our toolbox includes aerial photos, soil surveys, engineering solutions and individual science-based analysis customized for the producer’s property. The plan we develop with the producer combines existing production methods with recommended conservation practices to best manage that farm’s unique natural resources, while allowing the producer to grow sustainably and productively. Supported by our expert analysis and recommendations, the producer chooses which option best meets their needs. These decisions become the producer’s conservation plan, a step-by-step guide to reach their objectives.

This planning process also makes it easier to identify how and when the farmer, rancher or forest landowner could qualify for Farm Bill financial assistance to help them install conservation systems or receive incentives for trying new ones. We have the expertise to see our customers through this process. Because identifying when, where and how to implement practices is not plug and play.

The final plan provides a roadmap for the producer to meet their natural resource conservation goals. It includes helpful information on each of the producer’s practices, such as how they benefit the farm, how to maintain them, and how they help the soil, water and wildlife.

By developing a conservation plan and adding conservation to the land, farmers, ranchers and forest landowners can protect the land’s ability to provide for their family and future generations.

With offices in communities nationwide, NRCS staff provide the information, tools and delivery systems necessary for producers – in every state and territory – to conserve, maintain and improve their natural resources.

Contact your local USDA service center to find out more.


Farmers.gov Portal

Looking for ways to do business with USDA that saves you time? Look no further than farmers.gov.

When you create a farmers.gov account for the farmers.gov authenticated site, you have access to self-service features through a secure login.  Managing your business with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is faster than ever. From e-signing documents, viewing, printing, and exporting maps and receiving notifications of payment disbursements, a farmers.gov authenticated account makes doing business with USDA easy and secure.

What can you do with your farmers.gov account?

  • Submit a Direct Farm Loan application. This tool and other process improvements allow farmers and ranchers to submit complete loan applications. Helpful features include an electronic signature option, the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns, complete a balance sheet, and build a farm operating plan.
  • View NRCS Disbursements and Farm Loans financial activity from the past 180 days.
  • View, print and export detailed farm records and farm/tract maps.
  • Export common land unit (field) boundaries as ESRI and GeoJSON file types.
  • Import precision agriculture planting boundaries, create labels containing crop information, and print both on farm tract maps.
  • Use the draw tools to determine acres in an area of interest that can be printed on a map and provided to a third party or exported as a feature file for use in other geospatial applications.
  • View, upload, download and e-sign NRCS documents.
  • Request conservation and financial assistance, including submitting a program application.
  • Access information on current and past conservation practices, report practice completion and request practice certification
  • View detailed information on previous and ongoing contracts, including the amount of cost- share assistance received and request contract modifications.
  • View Farm Loan Program loans: View Farm Loan principal and interest balances, payment history, loan terms, and download interest statements.

How do you create a farmers.gov account?

To create a farmers.gov account you will need: 

  • A USDA individual customer record - A customer record contains information you have given to USDA to do business with them, like your name, address, phone number, and any legal representative authority relationships.
  • A login.gov account – Login.gov is a sign-in service that gives people secure online access to participating government programs.
  • Customers who are new to USDA should visit Get Started at Your USDA Service Center, then go to gov/account to create a farmers.gov account.

In addition to the self-service features, farmers.gov also has information on USDA programs, farm loans, disaster assistance, conservation programs and crop insurance.


USDA Invests Nearly $1.8 Million to Increase Participation in Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program

USDA’s Farm Service Agency partners with six organizations to promote awareness and understanding of CRP-TIP

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing almost $1.8 million in cooperative agreements with six partner organizations for outreach and technical assistance to promote awareness and understanding of the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program among agricultural communities. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers the program as an important tool to help beginning, veteran and socially disadvantaged farmers access land, as well as keep agricultural lands in production. These partnerships build on other efforts by USDA to increase equity in program delivery and broaden the reach of its programs to underserved producers.      

About CRP-TIP 

The Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program provides assistance for landowners or operators to transition land expiring from the Conservation Reserve Program to a beginning, veteran or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher for sustainable grazing or transition to crop production. The program pays owners or operators of land enrolled in an expiring Conservation Reserve Program contract up to two additional annual Conservation Reserve Program payments if they sell or lease their expiring Conservation Reserve Program land to an eligible non-family member. The producer gaining access or ownership to the land must return the land to production using sustainable grazing or crop production methods and be provided the opportunity to re-enroll some or all of the land into Conservation Reserve Program or enroll in the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Conservation Stewardship Program or Environmental Quality Incentives Program. 

A beginning farmer or rancher is one who has farmed or ranched 10 years or less, and materially and substantially participates in the operation.  

A socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher is a farmer or rancher who is a member of a group whose members have historically been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as a member of that group without regard to their individual qualities. For this program, gender is not included among these groups. 

A veteran farmer or rancher is a person who served in the Armed Forces and who has obtained status as a veteran during the most recent 10-year period, or who has not operated a farm or ranch, or operated a farm or ranch for no more than 10 years. 

Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program Partnership Projects 

In addition to the outreach and technical assistance focused proposals, FSA prioritized project proposals that analyze the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program, building upon prior studies of barriers to Transition Incentives Program participation. These projects will provide recommendations for improving the program and the identification of best practices. 

  • Victus Puerto Rico, Inc. - This project aims to assess the agency’s current Hispanic farmers outreach practices and identify areas of opportunity and potential pitfalls. After a comprehensive assessment and testing of different outreach strategies, the project will make recommendations and focus on increasing the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program awareness and participation through best-practice outreach and relevant technical assistance. The focus will be underserved Hispanic farmers in Texas and New Mexico and will include bilingual assistance. This project will use existing data, reports, literature reviews, and other sources and will generate data through its outreach, leading to local intel that creates local partnerships and will drive strategies for increasing Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program participants for years to come.
  • Bean Education and Advocacy Network Foundation, Inc. – This project will address outreach and technical assistance and will also help landowners and land seekers through referral-based services, connecting them to legal and financial assistance that will support successful transition of farmland. The project will provide a network (website and database) in which landowners and land seekers will be able to find and locate each other. It will also provide group and one-on-one informational instruction and technical assistance to improve, inform and educate. Focus will be in areas where there is historically underutilized land, and where there is a disconnect with those who wish to lease or own land as a socially disadvantaged farmer in Alabama and Mississippi.
  • Center for Rural Affairs – This project has the primary goal of connecting landowners and land seekers interested in program participation. This project will span the states of Iowa and Nebraska, with emphasis on areas of the state with upcoming or expiring Conservation Reserve Program contracts. Iowa and Nebraska have hundreds of thousands of acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program. This, combined with the increasing age of landowners and producers, will create an opportunity for Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program enrollment in upcoming years. Outreach materials, media pieces, and relationships built through this project will stay relevant and will be shared and made available online beyond the project term. Their website and social media platforms reach tens of thousands of individuals every year. Producers and landowners who are not at the end of their Conservation Reserve Program contract will be educated on the benefits of enrolling in the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program when the time comes. The project will have an impact for years to come.
  • Kansas State University – This project will increase the use of the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program within the state of Kansas to provide land access opportunities to eligible Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program producers. The project will provide six educational conferences in areas where Conservation Reserve Program acres will be eligible for the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program. In addition, a Land-Link program will be specifically marketed to Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program eligible landowners to provide a network for potential matches with land-seekers. The project will also offer technical assistance to landowners/operators and beginning, socially disadvantaged, and veteran farmers to facilitate transition discussions and evaluate financially feasible options of transition.
  • The Widget Business Training Company – This project focuses on designated counties in Alabama, including the Black Belt Prairie SAFE Area. The object of the project is to identify current Conservation Reserve Program landowners that are willing to participate in the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program. The project will conduct workshops and create a process to introduce the potential sellers or lessors to prospective buyers or lessees. For the ability of future transfers, they will develop a registry for all potential sellers and lessors and all potential buyers and lessees.
  • Trustees of Indiana University – The project will build a clearer national understanding of the Transition Incentives Program’s social and agro-ecological effects on the ground, and opportunities to dissolve barriers to participation for underserved farmers and farmers interested in ecologically sustainable farming practices. The project will focus on 18 priority Transition Incentives Program states: Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Washington. The project will look at who participates in the Transition Incentives Program, what takes place on Transition Incentives Program land, how lands convert from the Conservation Reserve Program to production, and how the Transition Incentives Program affects participating farmers’ and ranchers’ entry into – and success in – agriculture. It will also clarify impediments to the Transition Incentives Program in places where the Conservation Reserve Program is prevalent, and opportunities to dissolve those impediments, by learning directly from farmers who do not participate in the Transition Incentives Program.

Federally recognized Indian tribal organizations, state governments, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education were eligible to submit proposals for cooperative agreements.  

More Information 

Landowners enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program are encouraged to contact FSA through their local USDA Service Center to learn more about the Conservation Reserve Program -Transition Incentives Program. Beginning, veteran and socially disadvantaged producers interested in learning more about the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program or other resources to help them start or grow their farm operation are also encouraged to contact FSA at their local USDA Service Center

USDA Rallies Partners to Help with Outreach to Beginning, Veteran and Socially Disadvantaged Producers in Missouri on the Conservation Reserve Program-Transition Incentives Program


USDA Supports Urban and Innovative Producers

Are you gardening or farming in an urban environment or involved in controlled environment agriculture, rooftop farms, hydroponic aeroponic, aquaponic facilities or other types of innovative production? Agencies across USDA including the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) have programs and resources available for you, and many are listed in this Urban Agriculture Programs at a Glance brochure.

USDA offers resources to help you:

Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) funds projects that develop, coordinate and expand direct producer-to-consumer markets like farmers markets. Agricultural businesses and cooperative are among the eligible entities.

A first step is to contact your local USDA Service Center, including our new Urban Service Centers, to meet face to face with our staff from FSA and NRCS. If you’re a new farmer, you can also reach out to your state Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coordinator.

We also invite you to get involved with your FSA Urban County Committee, which provides local input on USDA urban agriculture policy, and the Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, which advises the Secretary of Agriculture and holds public meetings.

Sign up for e-mail updates on Urban Agriculture and learn more at farmers.gov/urban or usda.gov/urban.


Farmers.gov - Your Online Hub for Conducting Business with USDA

Farmers.gov gives you one place to do business with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), including accessing your farm records, maps, and common land units. You can create a farmers.gov account for the farmers.gov authenticated site, where you can access self-service features through a secure login.

In addition to the self-service features farmers.gov website also has information on USDA programs, farm loans, disaster assistance, conservation programs and crop insurance.

What can you do with your farmers.gov account?

  • Submit a paperless Direct Loan application that provides helpful features including an electronic signature option, the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns, complete a balance sheet, and build a farm operating plan.
  • View NRCS Disbursements and Farm Loans financial activity from the past 180 days.
  • View, print and export detailed farm records and farm/tract maps.
  • Export common land unit (field) boundaries as ESRI and GeoJSON file types.
  • Import precision agriculture planting boundaries, create labels containing crop information, and print both on farm tract maps.
  • Use the draw tools to determine acres in an area of interest that can be printed on a map and provided to a third party or exported as a feature file for use in other geospatial applications.
  • View, upload, download and e-sign NRCS documents.
  • Request conservation and financial assistance, including submitting a program application.
  • Access information on current and past conservation practices, report practice completion and request practice certification
  • View detailed information on previous and ongoing contracts, including the amount of cost- share assistance received and request contract modifications.

How to create a farmers.gov account?

To create a farmers.gov account you will need:

  • A USDA individual customer record - A customer record contains information you have given to USDA to do business with them, like your name, address, phone number, and any legal representative authority relationships.
  • A login.gov account – Login.gov is a sign-in service that gives people secure online access to participating government programs.

Tax Resources for USDA Program Participants

Navigating filing taxes can be challenging, especially if you are new to running a farm business, participating in disaster programs for first time, or trying to forecast the farm’s tax bill. Receiving funds from USDA through activities such as a conservation program payment or a disaster program is considered farm income that includes a tax liability for farm businesses. USDA technical assistance is free and creates no tax implications. 

At the end of the tax year, USDA issues tax forms 1098 and 1099 forms for farm loans, conservation programs administered by the Farm Service Agency and Natural Resource Conservation Service including the Conservation Reserve Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program, crop disaster payments, and the Market Facilitation Program. USDA also issues tax forms for recipients of assistance for distressed borrowers, including through Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

If you have received tax forms related to your operation, USDA cannot and does not provide tax advice but wants you to be aware of options that may help manage your tax liability. USDA has partnered with experts to provide resources to help you make the right tax decisions for your operation. Monthly webinars are available for registration and to view on demand at  https://www.farmers.gov/working-with-us/taxes.  

The Tax Estimator Tool is an interactive spreadsheet that producers can download to estimate tax liability. It is for informational and educational purposes and should not considered tax or legal advice. Producers may need to work with a tax professional to determine the correct information to be entered in the Tax Estimator Tool. 

We encourage you to visit https://www.farmers.gov/working-with-us/taxes for more information on how to find and work with a tax preparer as well as instructions on how to request copies of USDA documents and links to other helpful tax resources.  


USDA Invests Approximately $11.5 Million in Composting and Food Waste Reduction Projects in 23 States, Including Missouri

Agreements part of USDA’s support for urban agriculture.

USDA is investing approximately $11.5 million in 38 cooperative agreements that support innovative, scalable waste management plans to reduce and divert food waste from landfills. This includes 2 projects in Missouri. The Composting and Food Waste Reduction (CFWR) cooperative agreements, which are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, are part of USDA’s broad support for urban agriculture. The CFWR program is jointly administered by USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Learn more about the projects.


Applying for Farm Storage Facility Loans

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.


Current enrollment opportunity for climate-smart payments with University of Missouri CRCL Project

The University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture is currently offering selected climate-smart practice incentive payments with funding support from USDA.  The payments are part of the Climate-Resilient Crop & Livestock (CRCL) project and currently include regenerative grazing, nutrient management, and silvopasture practices.  Here are the incentive rates for currently open programs: 

  • Nutrient Management: $20 per acre (Accepting applications for farmers in Central and Northeast Missouri through January 31, 2024) 
  • Regenerative grazing: $50 per acre (Accepting applications through February 29, 2024)
  • Silvopasture: $250 per acre (Accepting applications on a rolling basis) 

During the summer months there will be another round of enrollment for cover crop payments. To learn more, visit https://cra.missouri.edu/mo-crcl/.   


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



USDA- MISSOURI

 

FARM SERVICE AGENCY (FSA)                                    

601 Business Loop 70 West, Suite 225
Columbia, MO  65203
Phone:  573-876-0925
Fax:  855-830-0680

fsa.usda.gov


NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS)

601 Business Loop 70 West, Suite 250
Columbia, MO  65203
Phone:  573-876-0901
Fax:  855-865-2188

nrcs.usda.gov

 

State Executive Director
Joe Aull

State Conservationist
Scott Edwards