Summer is here and our Rhode Island NRCS and Conservation District planners are in the home stretch of preparing conservation plans for the over 361 conservation program applications we received this year. Over 56% of the contracts we have awarded so far are to historically underserved clients. Our staff continue to work hard to obligate as much of our Farm Bill and Inflation Reduction Act funding as possible.

We are also continuing to work to address flood damages in communities across the Ocean State through our Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) and Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (WFPO) programs. Several towns have been approved for EWP flood damage funding in response to storms in September and December 2023 and January 2024, and we are seeking to secure additional assistance. We are also close to receiving approval of the long-awaited Pocasset watershed plan and working to sign agreements with the towns of Johnston and Cranston. 

Finally, June's sun and pollen-filled days remind us to protect and preserve our native pollinators, without whom we wouldn't have much of the food we eat or clothes we wear. We join our colleagues and partners across the country in celebrating "Vision 2040: Thriving ecosystems, economies, and agriculture" during Pollinator Week (June 17-23). This year's theme urges us to envision a future where pollinators – including bees, butterflies, moths, bats, beetles, and hummingbirds – not only survive but thrive. By understanding the impact of our actions on pollinator habitats and embracing sustainable practices, we can cultivate a world where both nature and humanity thrive in harmony. 

Yours in conservation,

R. Phou "Pooh" Vongkhamdy
NRCS Rhode Island State Conservationist

At USDA, we continue to improve our efforts to provide more equitable services and programs, allowing our customers to harvest that hope. That starts with creating a diverse, inclusive, and accessible workplace where LGBTQI+ employees feel valued and safe to bring their authentic selves to work—fostering the innovation needed to deliver all our vital services to the American people. We will continue to create equitable policies, preclude discrimination based on LGBTQI+ status in the workplace, ensure a culture at USDA that is welcoming to all, and most importantly, do everything we can to ensure our employees who live and work all over the country, including places where they may experience enduring discrimination, are safe. Learn more...

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Hurricane season officially began June 1 and ends on November 30. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) predicts above-normal hurricane activity in 2024, with 17 to 25 named storms.

USDA encourages farmers, forest landowners, growers and ranchers to prepare and protect their family and agricultural operations.

1. Develop an Emergency Plan - Ensure your household and employees know your hurricane plan, including meeting points, emergency contact lists, and alternate evacuation routes in case infrastructure is damaged.
2. Remove Debris and Secure Large Objects - Clean out culverts, ditches, and other drainage areas, especially before and during peak hurricane season to reduce water damage. Most injuries to animals, people, or structures during a hurricane are caused by flying objects. To lessen the risk, minimize the presence of equipment, supplies, and debris that may become airborne during high winds or encountered in floodwaters.
3. Secure Important Records and Documents- Pre- and post-hurricane documentation is extremely important for insurance compensation and recovery assistance. You’ll want to have thorough records of damages and losses sustained on your farm as well as documentation of your cleanup and recovery efforts.
   • It is critical to document inventory of farm buildings, vehicles, equipment, and livestock before a disaster occurs. Take photos, videos, or make written lists with descriptions. Keep copies of this inventory in multiple places: computer, off-site in a safe location, and on a cloud-based server where information is transmitted and saved weekly.
4. Know Your Insurance Options- Regularly review your insurance policies with your agent to be sure you have adequate coverage, including flood insurance, for your facilities, vehicles, farm buildings, crops and livestock. Note, there are limitations on how soon insurance coverage will take effect. Generally, insurance policies will not cover damage if the policy was not in place before a disaster.
5. Gather Supplies - Have drinking water, canned food, a generator, batteries, a flashlight, and fuel available in case you lose power. For widespread outages, credit and debit cards may not work, so have cash handy.
6. Access Real-time Emergency Information- Download the Federal Emergency Management Agency smartphone app for free on the App Store and Google Play for safety tips on what to do before, during, and after disasters. Subscribe to our text message and email service to receive real-time, local operational and recovery information from the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Risk Management Agency.

On farmers.gov, the Hurricane Webpage, Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Loan Assistance Tool can help farmers 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, contact the Rhode Island USDA Service Center.

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USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) partnered with FarmRaise to launch a new, online Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) Decision Tool. The tool is designed to help farmers who have been impacted by natural disasters to access available program support. The ELAP Decision Tool, a component of a broader disaster assistance program educational module, further expands the library of online FSA disaster and farm loan program reference resources and decision aids currently available to farmers on the FarmRaise FSA educational hub. The Decision Tool is a resource only and is not an application for benefits or a determination of eligibility.

ELAP is designed to address losses not covered by other FSA disaster assistance programs. The program provides recovery assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honey bee, and farm-raised fish for losses due to an eligible adverse weather or loss condition, including drought, blizzards, disease, water shortages and wildfires. ELAP covers grazing and feed losses, transportation of water and feed to livestock and hauling livestock to grazing acres due to an eligible loss condition. ELAP also covers certain mortality losses due to an eligible condition, for livestock including honey bees and farm-raised fish and honey bee hive losses.  

New FarmRaise Tools and Resources  

FarmRaise, in partnership with FSA, recently launched their online, educational hub – the FarmRaise | FSA Educational Hub – comprised of videos, tools and interactive resources that enable USDA cooperators and agricultural producers to learn about and access major FSA programs.    

A new addition to the hub, the ELAP Decision Tool helps eligible farmers impacted by qualifying natural disasters and other eligible causes of loss to better understand program eligibility and application requirements, learn about record-keeping and supporting loss documentation requirements, and track the steps needed before applying for program benefits. The document generated by the ELAP Decision Tool can be used to support the ELAP application process, but it is not a program application. Farmers will need to complete and submit an ELAP Application to their local FSA county office. Upon request, applicants may be asked to provide additional supporting documentation per the program requirements. Learn more...

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Through the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP), FSA will cover up to 75% of organic certification costs at a maximum of $750 per certification category. FSA is now accepting applications, and organic producers and handlers should apply for OCCSP by the Oct. 31, 2024, deadline for eligible expenses incurred from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024. FSA will issue payments as applications are received and approved.

OCCSP was part of a broader organic announcement made by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on May 15, 2024, that also included the Organic Market Development Grant program and Organic Transition Initiative.

Eligible Applicants, Expenses and Categories

OCCSP provides cost-share assistance to farmers and handlers of organic agricultural commodities for expenses incurred obtaining or maintaining organic certification under USDA’s National Organic Program. Eligible OCCSP applicants include any certified organic farmers or handlers who have paid organic certification fees to a USDA-accredited certifying agent.

Cost share assistance covers expenses including application fees, inspection costs, fees related to equivalency agreement and arrangement requirements, inspector travel expenses, user fees, sales assessments and postage. OCCSP pays a maximum of $750 per certification category for crops, wild crops, livestock, processing/handling, and state organic program fees (California only).

How to Apply

To apply, farmers and handlers should contact FSA at (401) 828-3120 (ext 1) or email Lillian Toth at Lillian.Toth@usda.gov and be prepared to provide documentation of organic certification and eligible expenses. OCCSP applications can also be submitted through participating state departments of agriculture. For more information, visit the OCCSP webpage. Learn more...

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Farmers in Rhode Island who have not yet completed their crop acreage reports after planting should make an appointment with the FSA service center before the upcoming July 15th deadline.

An acreage report documents a crop grown on a farm or ranch, its intended use and location. 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

Acreage reporting dates vary by crop and by county. Contact FSA at (401) 828-3120 (ext 1) or email Lillian Toth at Lillian.Toth@usda.gov for a list of acreage reporting deadlines by crop. To file a crop acreage report, farmers 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.

Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy holders should note that the acreage reporting date for NAP-covered crops is the earlier of the dates listed above or 15 calendar days before grazing or crop harvesting begins.

Prevented Planted Acreage

Farmers should also report crop acreage they intended to plant, but 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 recently updated policy that applies to prevented planted acreage due to drought. To certify prevented planted acreage due to drought, all of the following must apply:

• The area that is prevented from being planted has insufficient soil moisture for seed germination on the final planting date for non-irrigated acreage.
• Prolonged precipitation deficiencies that meet the D3 or D4 drought intensity level as determined by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
• Verifiable information must be collected from sources whose business or purpose is recording weather conditions as determined by FSA.  

Continuous Certification Option for Perennial Forage

Agricultural producers with perennial forage crops have the option to report their acreage once, without having to report that acreage in subsequent years, as long as there are no applicable changes on the farm. Interested producers can select the continuous certification option after FSA certifies their acreage report. Examples of perennial forage include mixed forage, birdsfoot trefoil, chicory/radicchio, kochia (prostrata), lespedeza, perennial peanuts and perennial grass varieties.

Once the continuous certification option is selected, the certified acreage will roll forward annually with no additional action required by the producer in subsequent years unless the acreage report changes.   

Farmers.gov Portal

Producers can access their FSA farm records, maps, and common land units through the farmers.gov customer portal. The portal allows producers to export field boundaries as shapefiles and import and view other shapefiles, such as precision agriculture boundaries within farm records mapping.  Producers can view, print and label their maps for acreage reporting purposes. Level 2 eAuthentication or login.gov access that is linked to a USDA Business Partner customer record is required to use the portal.

Producers can visit farmers.gov/account to learn more about creating an account. Producers who have authority to act on behalf of another customer as a grantee via an FSA-211 Power of Attorney form, Business Partner Signature Authority or as a member of a business can now access information for the business in the farmers.gov portal.  

More Information

Contact FSA at (401) 828-3120 (ext 1) or email Lillian Toth at Lillian.Toth@usda.gov today to make an appointment to report acres.

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USDA has expanded its Nursery Value Select (NVS) crop insurance program to all counties in all states, and the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) is encouraging interested nursery producers to learn more about the program through upcoming informational workshops. These sessions will be valuable for producers in the newly expanded areas and especially for the Nursery Field Grown and Container (FG&C) crop insurance program, which ends beginning with the 2026 crop year. 

Nursery Value Select is a pilot program that enables nursery producers to select the dollar amount of coverage that best fits their risk management needs. Its expansion is part of RMA’s efforts to provide insurance options for a broader group of producers, including specialty crop producers. 

There is one more Nursery Value Select workshop on July 18. See more details here.

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