As the wheels of agriculture continue to turn towards the 2025 calendar year, it is important to begin farm capital planning for your operation. Farm capital is critical for a farmer’s ability to operate effectively, allowing one an opportunity to purchase the necessary land, equipment, livestock and inputs like seed and fertilizer. Having the appropriate farm capital in place provides a financial cushion to weather market fluctuations and unexpected challenges like natural disasters, ensuring the farm’s long-term sustainability and profitability.

The USDA Farm Service Agency stands ready to assist you in production efficiency, managing your cash flow; adapting to market changes; being resilient against risks; and allowing you to invest in opportunities. This newsletter is filled with information to assist you navigating FSA. Please reach out to your local service center or click here to search for your local office: https://www.farmers.gov/working-with-us/service-center-locator

My wish for this Thanksgiving holiday is that we all can pause to give thanks for the bounty provided by the American farmer. Thank you for what you do to provide food, feed and fuel for our country and world.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What the new rules mean for you:

• Low-interest installment set-aside program: Financially distressed borrowers can now defer up to one annual loan payment at a reduced interest rate. This simplified option helps ease financial pressure while keeping farming operations running smoothly.
• Flexible repayment terms: New repayment options give borrowers the ability to increase their cash flow and build working capital reserves, allowing for long-term financial planning that includes saving for retirement, education, and other future needs.
• Reduced collateral requirements: FSA has lowered the amount of additional loan security needed for direct farm loans, making it easier for borrowers to leverage their existing equity without putting their personal residence at risk.

These new rules provide more financial freedom to borrowers. By giving farmers better tools to manage their operations, we’re helping them build long-term financial stability. It’s all about making sure they can keep their land, grow their business, and invest in the future.

If you’re an FSA borrower or considering applying for a loan, now is the time to take advantage of these new policies. We encourage you to reach out to your local FSA farm loan staff to ensure you fully understand the wide range of loan making and servicing options available to assist with starting, expanding, or maintaining your agricultural operation.

Farm Loan Programs can be used to support a variety of climate-smart agriculture practices, which build on many practices that farmers and ranchers already use, like cover cropping, nutrient management and conservation tillage.

Climate-smart agricultural practices generate significant environmental benefits by capturing and sequestering carbon, improving water management, restoring soil health and more. Farm loan funding complements other tools to help producers adopt climate-smart practices, such as FSA’s Conservation Reserve Program, crop insurance options that support conservation, and conservation programs offered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

FSA offers multiple types of loans to help farmers and ranchers start, expand or maintain a family agricultural operation. These loans can provide the capital needed to invest in climate-smart practices and equipment including the establishment of rotational grazing systems, precision agriculture equipment or machinery for conversion to no-till residue management. Additionally, for programs like Conservation Reserve Program and NRCS conservation programs where USDA and the producer share the implementation cost, a farm loan could be used for the producer’s share, if consistent with the authorized loan purpose.

Some additional ways farm loans can be leveraged to invest in climate-smart agriculture practices or equipment include:

• Precision Agriculture Equipment - Eligible producers could use a Term Operating Loan to purchase equipment like GPS globes, monitors, or strip till fertilizer equipment.
• Cover Crops - Eligible producers could use an Annual Operating Loan for seed costs.
• No/Reduced Till - Eligible producers could use a Term Operating Loan to purchase equipment.
• Livestock Facility Air Scrubber or Waste Treatment - Eligible producers could use a Farm Ownership Loan for capital improvements to livestock facilities.
• Cross Fencing - Eligible producers could use an Annual or Term Operating Loan to purchase fencing and installation equipment.

Visit the Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry webpage on farmers.gov to learn more and see detailed examples of how an FSA farm loan can support climate-smart agriculture practices.

FSA borrowers with farms located in designated primary or contiguous disaster areas who are unable to make their scheduled FSA loan payments should consider the Disaster Set-Aside (DSA) program.

DSA is available to producers who suffered losses as a result of a natural disaster and relieves immediate and temporary financial stress. FSA is authorized to consider setting aside the portion of a payment/s needed for the operation to continue on a viable scale.

Borrowers must have at least two years left on the term of their loan in order to qualify. 

Borrowers have eight months from the date of the disaster designation to submit a complete application. The application must include a written request for DSA signed by all parties liable for the debt along with production records and financial history for the operating year in which the disaster occurred. FSA may request additional information from the borrower in order to determine eligibility. 

All farm loans must be current or less than 90 days past due at the time the DSA application is complete. Borrowers may not set aside more than one installment on each loan. 

The amount set-aside, including interest accrued on the principal portion of the set-aside, is due on or before the final due date of the loan. 

Indiana currently has several Disaster Declarations in effect for various disaster events from tornados, wind, hail, flooding and drought. To find out if your farming operation is located within one of the designated primary or contiguous counties, reach out to your regional farm loan office.

Farm Ownership Loans offer essential financial support to farmers aiming to purchase, develop, or expand their agricultural operations. These loans are available in different forms to meet a variety of needs, including the purchase of farmland, construction of farm buildings, and making improvements to existing structures and infrastructure.

Farm Operating Loans offer vital financial support to farmers for various operational needs. These loans are designed to assist with the purchase of essential items such as livestock, equipment, feed, seed, and supplies. Additionally, they can be used to cover costs related to minor improvements, family living expenses, and refinancing certain debts. The goal of Farm Operating Loans is to ensure the ongoing productivity and financial stability of agricultural operations, thereby supporting the broader agricultural economy.

Over the years, farmers across the United States have utilized the FSA Farm Loan Program. Some of their success stories can be found on the Farmers.gov Blog. 

In this Ask the Expert, Toni Williams answers questions about how Farm Storage Facility Loans (FSFLs) provide low-interest financing to help producers build or upgrade commodity storage facilities. Toni is the Agricultural Program Manager for FSFLs at the Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Toni has worked for FSA for more than 32 years and is responsible for providing national policy and guidance for Farm Storage Facility Loans.

What are Farm Storage Facility Loans?

Farm Storage Facility Loans provide low-interest financing for eligible producers to build or upgrade facilities to store commodities.

The FSFL program was created in May 2000 to address an existing grain shortage. Historically, FSFLs benefitted grain farmers, but a change in the 2008 Farm Bill extended the program to fruit and vegetable producers for cold storage. An additional change extended the program to washing and packing sheds, where fresh produce is washed, sorted, graded, labeled, boxed up, and stored before it heads to market. Since May 2000, FSA has made more than 40,000 loans for on-farm storage.

Eligible facility types include grain bins, hay barns, bulk tanks, and facilities for cold storage. Drying and handling and storage equipment including storage and handling trucks are also eligible. Eligible facilities and equipment may be new or used, permanently affixed or portable.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) in partnership with the Cornell Small Farms Program and Rooted have launched the Promise of Urban Agriculture courses to provide critical information for building or supporting successful commercial urban farms.

The courses, now available on the Cornell Small Farms Program website, educate participants through unique video content and materials about topics including, Accessing Urban Land for Farming, Urban Farm Planning and Management, and Sources of Urban Farm Income.

Upon completion of these courses, participants will know the important factors involved in building viable urban farms, understand relevant policy and planning tools, be aware of economic opportunities and risks, and distinguish between effective nonprofit and for-profit business structures.