In This Issue:
Happy October! The year’s final big harvest season is here! Thinking back to only a few months ago, producers throughout Pennsylvania struggled with devastating extreme weather events – too much rain, all at once or not enough rain, for an extended period. Although, it may be a long road to recovery for many, I encourage producers to think about risk planning for next year and consider upcoming crop insurance and NAP deadlines. You don’t think it’s going to happen to you – and then it does! Be prepared! Our hearts are still with those hit hardest in Potter and Tioga. You are not forgotten!
We continue to support our producers in disaster areas throughout the State with our emergency programs and emergency loans to help those affected build back their businesses and production operations. We continue the most important work - investing in the future of producers! If you have been affected by a disaster in your county, please visit your county FSA office to report your damage. Even if you have not participated with us before, you may still be eligible for our disaster programs. It’s worthwhile asking! Producers should contact their local USDA Service Center.
Continuity of agricultural operations and retention of land is our highest priority, and USDA remains committed to that work. Since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law in August 2022, USDA has provided approximately $2.4 billion in assistance to more than 43,900 distressed borrowers. We are investing in the future of our producers, demonstrated by the work we have accomplished in Pennsylvania’s loan portfolio and critical hiring decisions throughout the State. Significant Farm Service Agency Loan reforms and ongoing investments made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act are all ways that USDA remains proactive while keeping farmers farming.
And just two weeks ago, USDA announced an additional $250 million in assistance, helping more than 4,600 producers across the country. This includes approximately $235 million in assistance for an estimated 4,485 delinquent direct and guaranteed borrowers who have not received prior IRA assistance. These payments will help to ensure that more than 4,600 producers across the country will see another production season. Again, we are being active and addressing current crises to help producers throughout the Commonwealth. While the economic impacts of these payments and assistance will diminish over time as the economy returns to a steady state, the one-time payments are expected to strengthen local economies and potentially improve resilience and growth prospects.
I was pleased to be invited to attend an Urban Ag roundtable discussion in Pittsburgh this month along with Allegheny County CED Chris Murakami, NRCS District Conservationist Tim Scott, NRCS Chief Terry Cosby, State Conservationist Denise Coleman, a dozen urban ag producers, agriculture groups and organizations. Topics were focused on land access, capitalizing operations, soil health, carbon farming, and the role that urban ag plays as a solution for local and regional food systems and environmental sustainability. The roundtable was held at Allegheny County Conservation District along with their partners and collaborators. It was a very informative group discussion bringing both urban and rural groups together!
Starting November 4th, County Committee election ballots will be sent out to eligible voters. County Committees are the grassroots voices of the work we do at FSA. We are stronger with the voices of our county committees, the local farmers who are informing us of how we are doing, what we can do better and overseeing the work we do in the county office. County Committees, along with our county staff, are public servants who step up and help make FSA programs stronger here in Pennsylvania. Notable this year is our first ever Allegheny County election! The deadline to return ballots to local FSA offices, or to be postmarked, is December 2, 2024. Newly elected County Committee members will take office on January 1, 2025. For more information on the county committee system and to find out if you LAA is up for election this year please follow this link and click “Find My LAA” or contact your local FSA office.
This month we recognized the achievements of state and county office staff. While we know all our staff make incredible contributions to the State, there are always a few that stand out and these shooting stars were nominated for their impactful contributions to FSA’s mission and vision. For our County Office teams and individuals – Sharon Beichner and Erin McCloskey King in Clarion, Nakku Senkeeto and Karen Sweigart in Leesport, and Lisa Bauer in Butler. We also recognize State and County Office employees who received Administrator Awards in DC for significant contributions with their team or as an individual – Daniel Smeal and the admin team from State Office, Harrisburg, Nina Berryman and the urban ag office team from Philadelphia, and both Tina Gross and Rick Csutoras from York. If you know these folks or see them at your County Office, please congratulate them! It is a well-deserved honor!
Stay safe this harvest season. We are all working hard, long hours – stay hydrated, make sure you have snacks available, take frequent breaks and rest your back and hips. Remember you are vitally important to your community, your family and your friends. Everyone here at Pennsylvania FSA would like to remind you, to always place safety first, on and around the farm.
I mentioned a topic in my last message that bears repeating due to significance. If you or anyone you know is experiencing a great deal of stress, please share the following information.
Free - Confidential - 24/7 Staffed - Farm Crisis Lifeline
CALL or TEXT 1-833-FARM-SOS (1-833-327-6767)
From my farm gate to yours,
Heidi Secord
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Severe weather events create significant challenges and often result in catastrophic loss for agricultural producers. Despite every attempt to mitigate risk, your operation may suffer losses. USDA offers several programs to help with recovery.
Risk Management
For producers who have risk protection through Federal Crop Insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), we want to remind you to report crop damage to your crop insurance agent or the local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.
If you have crop insurance, contact your agency within 72 hours of discovering damage and be sure to follow up in writing within 15 days. If you have NAP coverage, file a Notice of Loss (also called Form CCC-576) within 15 days of loss becoming apparent, except for hand-harvested crops, which should be reported within 72 hours.
Disaster Assistance
USDA also offers disaster assistance programs, which is especially important to livestock, fruit and vegetable, specialty and perennial crop producers who have fewer risk management options.
First, the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybee and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) reimburses producers for a portion of the value of livestock, poultry and other animals that died as a result of a qualifying natural disaster event or for loss of grazing acres, feed and forage. And, the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) provides assistance to producers of grazed forage crop acres that have suffered crop loss due to a qualifying drought. Livestock producers suffering the impacts of drought can also request Emergency Haying and Grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres.
Next, the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides cost share assistance to rehabilitate and replant tree, vines or shrubs loss experienced by orchards and nurseries. This complements NAP or crop insurance coverage, which cover the crop but not the plants or trees in all cases.
For LIP and ELAP, you will need to file a Notice of Loss for livestock and grazing or feed losses by the application deadline for each program. For TAP, you will need to file a program application within 90 days.
Documentation
It’s critical to keep accurate records to document all losses following this devastating cold weather event. Livestock producers are advised to document beginning livestock numbers by taking time and date-stamped video or pictures prior to after the loss.
Other common documentation options include:
- Purchase records
- Production records
- Vaccination records
- Bank or other loan documents
- Third-party certification
Other Programs
The Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners and forest stewards with financial and technical assistance to restore damaged farmland or forests.
Additionally, FSA offers a variety of loans available including emergency loans that are triggered by disaster declarations and operating loans that can assist producers with credit needs. You can use these loans to replace essential property, purchase inputs like livestock, equipment, feed and seed, or refinance farm-related debts, and other needs.
Meanwhile, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides financial resources through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help with immediate needs and long-term support to help recover from natural disasters and conserve water resources. Assistance may also be available for emergency animal mortality disposal from natural disasters and other causes.
Additional Resources
Additional details – including payment calculations – can be found on our NAP, ELAP, LIP, and TAP fact sheets. On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool can help you determine program or loan options.
While we never want to have to implement disaster programs, we are here to help. To file a Notice of Loss or to ask questions about available programs, contact your local USDA Service Center. All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including those that restrict in-person visits or require appointments because of the pandemic.
Farmers can use USDA farm ownership microloans to buy and improve property. These microloans are especially helpful to beginning or underserved farmers, U.S. veterans looking for a career in farming, and those who have small and mid-sized farming operations. Microloans have helped farmers and ranchers with operating costs, such as feed, fertilizer, tools, fencing, equipment, and living expenses since 2013.
Microloans can also help with farmland and building purchases and soil and water conservation improvements. FSA designed the expanded program to simplify the application process, expand eligibility requirements and expedite smaller real estate loans to help farmers strengthen their operations. Microloans provide up to $50,000 to qualified producers and can be issued to the applicant directly from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA).
Learn more about the FSA microloan program, visit fsa.usda.gov/microloans.
Urban and innovative agriculture producers will be able to more easily participate in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs as a result of acreage reporting improvements. These improvements, implemented by USDA’s Farm Service Agency, provide more flexibility for reporting acreage on a smaller scale and identifying innovative planting practices like multi-level planting or vertical farming practices.
An acreage report documents crops and where they are grown on a farm or ranch along with the intended use of the crop. 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 program benefits.
Acreage Reporting Improvements
FSA’s acreage reporting software previously allowed acreage to be reported down to .0001 acres, approximately a four-square foot area. Producers will now be able to report acreage-based crops at a minimum size of .000001 acre, approximately a 2.5-inch by 2.5-inch area.
Additional improvements will distinguish alternate growing methods such as crops grown within multiple levels of a building, or crops grown using multi-level or multi-layer growing structures such as panels or towers within a container system. This change allows the distinction of vertical farming practices. Urban and innovative producers will also have the option to report plant inventory along with their acreage-based report, allowing producers to better report the full scope of their operation.
Producers can contact FSA at their local USDA Service Center for acreage reporting deadlines that are specific to their county.
USDA Urban Service Centers
USDA is committed to working with farms of all sizes and in all locations, including those in urban areas. USDA works with agricultural producers through a network of more than 2,300 Service Centers nationwide. To better serve urban farmers, USDA is establishing 17 new Urban Service Centers.
The Urban Service Centers are staffed by FSA and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) employees and offer farm loan, conservation, disaster assistance and risk management programs.
For questions, producers should call their FSA county office. Urban operations that are not located near one of the Urban Service Centers can contact one of the more than 2,300 Service Centers across the country by visiting farmers.gov/service-locator.
The new acreage reporting improvements and Urban Service Centers are part of a broad USDA investment in urban agriculture and innovative production. Other efforts include:
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Investing $9 million in funding to local organizations that will conduct outreach, education and technical assistance to urban producers and support the urban service centers in 10 cities.
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Organizing 27 FSA urban county committees to make important decisions about how FSA farm programs are administered locally. Urban farmers who participate in USDA programs in the areas selected are encouraged to participate by nominating and voting for county committee members.
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Administering the People’s Garden Initiative, which celebrates collaborative gardens across the country and worldwide that benefit their communities by growing fresh, healthy food and supporting resilient, local food systems using sustainable practices and providing greenspace.
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Providing cooperative agreements that develop and test strategies for planning and implementing municipal compost plans and food waste reduction plans.
Additional resources include:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an additional $250 million in automatic payments for distressed direct and guaranteed farm loan borrowers under Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act. This significant step continues USDA's commitment to keeping farmers and ranchers financially viable and support for agricultural communities.
Over the past two years, USDA acted swiftly to assist borrowers in retaining their land and continuing their agricultural operations. Since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022, the USDA has provided approximately $2.4 billion in assistance to more than 43,900 distressed borrowers.
Building on this momentum, USDA is announcing an estimated additional $250 million in assistance to approximately 4,650 distressed direct and guaranteed farm loan borrowers. This includes approximately $235 million in assistance for an estimated 4,485 delinquent direct and guaranteed borrowers who have not received prior IRA 22006 assistance, and approximately $15 million in assistance for an estimated 165 direct and guaranteed borrowers with Shared Appreciation Agreements.
Distressed FSA borrowers with loans secured by real estate must sign a Shared Appreciation Agreement when they accept loan servicing actions that write down a portion of their direct or guaranteed debt. FSA is required to recapture a portion of that write-down if the property value of the real estate security increases when the agreement matures. Borrowers are required to either repay this amount or have it converted into an interest-accruing repayment agreement. As loan servicing actions that were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic resume, such as Shared Appreciation Agreement recaptures, this added debt burden could severely impact borrowers who are already struggling.
How Payments Will Be Made
For direct borrower delinquency assistance, FSA will make an automatic payment in the amount of any outstanding delinquencies, as of Sept. 30, 2024, on qualifying direct borrower loans that are one or more days delinquent, as of that date, provided those borrowers have not received prior Section 22006 assistance that was applied to reduce a direct FSA loan balance (excluding assistance for Disaster Set-Asides and Emergency Loans).
For guaranteed borrower delinquency payments, FSA will mail via check an automatic payment in the amount of any outstanding delinquencies, as of Sept. 30, 2024, on qualifying guaranteed loans that are 30 or more days delinquent, as of that date, provided those borrowers have not received prior Section 22006 guaranteed loan assistance. Guaranteed loan borrowers are not considered to be in monetary default until 30 days past due. This assistance will be in the form of a United States Department of the Treasury check that is jointly payable to the borrower and the lender.
For borrowers receiving assistance on their Shared Appreciation Agreements, a payment will be made to resolve outstanding amortized repayment agreements and recapture amounts owed to FSA which have matured as of Sept. 30, 2024. Borrowers whose Shared Appreciation Agreements have not matured as of Sept. 30, 2024, will be contacted by FSA and provided an opportunity to request that FSA calculate a partial recapture and Shared Appreciation Agreement assistance offer.
Shared Appreciation Agreement assistance amounts will be calculated as follows:
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For borrowers whose Shared Appreciation Agreement had previously matured and the receivable owed was converted into a Shared Appreciation Payment Agreement prior to Sept. 30, 2024, Shared Appreciation Agreement assistance will be equal to the total amount of outstanding principal and interest owed on the payment agreement of Sept. 30, 2024.
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For Shared Appreciation Agreements that have reached their maturity date, but FSA has not yet calculated recapture due, FSA will complete required appraisals and calculate the recapture due as of the date of the Shared Appreciation Agreement maturity. Shared Appreciation Agreement assistance will be equal to the amount of calculated recapture.
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For Shared Appreciation Agreements that have not yet matured, FSA will be in contact with borrowers and will provide the option to request Shared Appreciation Agreement payment assistance. Borrowers must consent to FSA completing an appraisal on real estate security prior to March 31, 2025. FSA will calculate the amount of recapture that would be due as if the Shared Appreciation Agreement matured as of Sept. 30, 2024, and the borrower may accept that payment as a partial payment towards the receivable due at final maturity. Borrowers may still owe additional recapture at final Shared Appreciation Agreement maturity.
As with previous rounds of Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act assistance, direct and guaranteed borrowers receiving assistance under any category above will receive a letter from FSA explaining the payment they received. Guaranteed borrowers will receive instructions to make an appointment with their lender to process the payment and apply it to their qualifying guaranteed loan accounts. FSA will provide a letter to guaranteed lenders with instructions for providing updated status reports.
Any distressed direct and guaranteed borrowers who qualify for these forms of assistance and are currently in bankruptcy will be addressed using the same case-by-case review process announced in October 2022 for complex cases.
Impact of Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act Assistance
USDA conducted an Economic Impact Analysis on the $2.2 billion in payments previously provided to distressed Farm Loan Program borrowers through Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act. Key findings show these payments will:
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Generate or support nearly 49,000 jobs.
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Increase household income by $2.471 billion.
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Contribute $3.556 billion to the United States gross domestic product.
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Increase gross revenues from total sales of final goods and services by $5.663 billion.
While the economic impacts of these payments will diminish over time as the economy returns to a steady state, the one-time payments are expected to strengthen local economies and potentially improve resilience and growth prospects. View the additional estimated economic impacts in this fact sheet.
Since fiscal year 2021, USDA foreclosures have significantly decreased, with only 12 farm foreclosures initiated directly by FSA, compared to a 10-year average of 51 annually. Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies have dropped from an average of 493 annually to 139 in 2023. Inflation Reduction Act assistance has brought 1,904 farmers facing foreclosure current and prevented the initiation of foreclosures for 3,970 farmers. Around 82% of direct loan borrowers who received assistance remain current on their loans.
Additional Farm Loan Programs Improvements
FSA recently announced significant changes to Farm Loan Programs through the Enhancing Program Access and Delivery for Farm Loans rule. These policy changes are designed to expand opportunities for borrowers to increase profitability and be better prepared to make strategic investments in the enhancement or expansion of their agricultural operations.
FSA also has a significant initiative underway to streamline and automate the Farm Loan Program customer-facing business process. FSA has made several impactful improvements including:
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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.
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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.
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The Distressed Borrowers Assistance Network, a national initiative aimed at providing personalized support to financially distressed farmers and ranchers. The network connects borrowers with individualized assistance to help them regain financial stability.
USDA encourages producers to reach out to their local FSA farm loan staff to ensure they fully understand the wide range of loan and servicing options available to assist with starting, expanding, or maintaining their agricultural operation. To conduct business with FSA, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center.
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Farm Operating Loans, Direct
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4.875%
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Farm Ownership Loans, Direct
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5.375%
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Farm Ownership Loans, Down Payment
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1.500%
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Emergency Loan
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3.750%
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Farm Ownership – Joint Financing
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3.375%
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Farm Storage Facility Loan, 3 year
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3.625%
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Farm Storage Facility Loan, 5 year
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3.500%
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Farm Storage Facility Loan, 7 year
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3.625%
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Farm Storage Facility Loan, 10 year
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3.750%
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Farm Storage Facility Loan, 12 year
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3.875%
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Commodity Loans
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5.125%
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