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McPherson County FSA Updates  -  March 17, 2025

In This Issue:

• Dates to Remember
• Producers Can Now Enroll in ARC and PLC
• Conduct Business Online Through the Farmers.gov Portal
• How do you create a farmers.gov account?
• Implementing Fire Management on CRP Acres

Dates to Remember

April 15, 2025 - Deadline for ARC/PLC Program Sign Up
May 26, 2025 - Office Closed for Memorial Day
June 19, 2025 - Office Closed for Juneteenth
July 4, 2025 - Office Closed for Independence Day
July 15, 2025 - Deadline to certify Spring Seeded Crops

Sign-Up for Text Alerts: Text KSMcPherson to FSANOW (372-669)

Producers Can Now Enroll in ARC and PLC

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting enrollments and elections for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) for 2025 from Jan. 21 to April 15.  ARC and PLC provide financial protections to farmers from substantial drops in crop prices or revenues and are vital economic safety nets for most American farms. The American Relief Act, 2025 extended many Farm Bill-authorized programs for another year, including ARC and PLC.

Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County (ARC-CO) or PLC, which provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual (ARC-IC), which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2025 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm it will continue for 2025 unless an election change is made.       

If producers do not submit their election revision by the April 15 deadline, their election remains the same as their 2024 election for commodities on the farm from the prior year. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the cropland.        

Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.       

USDA also reminds producers that ARC and PLC elections and enrollments can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products including Supplemental Coverage Option, Enhanced Coverage Option and, for cotton producers, the Stacked Income Protection Plan (commonly referred to as STAX).   

For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact your McPherson County USDA Service Center at 620-241-1836

Conduct Business Online Through the Farmers.gov Portal

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

When you create an account for the farmers.gov authenticated customer portal, you have access to self-service features through a secure login. Managing your business with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural 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?

• View FSA Farm Loan information including interest payments, loan advances, payment history and paid-in-full/restructured loans.
• Make USDA direct farm loan payments using the Pay My Loan feature.
• Access the Online Loan Application portal.
• View, print and export detailed FSA farm records and farm/tract maps.
• Import precision agriculture planting boundaries, create labels containing crop information, and print both on farm tract maps.
• View and print your FSA-156EZ with farm details
• View and print your Producer Farm Data Report
• View NRCS Disbursements and Farm Loans financial activity from the past 180 days.
• View your land, access NRCS data on your conservation plans, contracts, and planning land units through the Conservation Land Area page.
• View, upload, download and e-sign NRCS documents.
• Request NRCS conservation and financial assistance, including submitting a program application.
• View detailed information on all previous and ongoing NRCS contracts, including the amount of cost- share assistance received and anticipated; and even request contract modifications, report practice completion and request practice certification.
• “Switch Profiles” to act on behalf of your entity or another individual when you have active representative authority on file

If you’d like to see the features in action and learn more about how to use them, check out the 3-5 minute farmers.gov account video tutorials.

How do you create a farmers.gov account?

Visit farmers.gov/account to access information about farmers.gov accounts and sign in to the site’s authenticated portal. You will need a Login.gov account linked to your USDA customer record to access your farmers.gov authenticated site. Customers who are new to USDA should visit Get Started at Your USDA Service Center, then go to farmers.gov/account 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. Contact your local USDA Service Center to make sure you have an individual USDA customer record on file and your information is up to date.
• A Login.gov account — Login.gov is a sign-in service that gives people secure online access to participating government programs. You can create a Login.gov account linked to your customer record by following the directions on gov/account.
• Identity Verification — You can choose to verify your identity with Login.gov or in-person at a USDA Service Center.

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

Implementing Fire Management on CRP Acres

FSA encourages you to be proactive in preventing the spread of wildfire. If you participate in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), you are responsible for fire management on your CRP acreage. The goal is to suppress the amount of fuel in the event of a wildfire while still promoting the diversity of the conservation cover.

One fire management practice includes installing firebreaks, which should be included in the contract support document and installed according to NRCS firebreak standards. Barren firebreaks will only be allowed in high-risk areas, such as transportation corridors, rural communities, and adjacent farmsteads. A conservationist must certify that there will not be an erosion hazard from the barren firebreak. If erosion becomes a problem, remedial action will be taken.

You must complete the necessary management activities outside of the Primary Nesting Season. In Kansas, the Primary Nesting Season is April 15 through July 15 for grazing benefits and April 15 through July 15 for all other activities. Remember that fireguard technical practices should be outlined in your Conservation Plan of Operations (CPO).

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