Nebraska FSA and NRCS State Office
Electronic Newsletter - April 29, 2025
In This Issue:
Nebraska USDA Farm Service Agency current activities will be the featured subject matter during an upcoming webinar being hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Ag Profitability (CAP).
Tune in May 8, from noon-1 p.m. CT, to get an overview of Nebraska FSA current activities, including updates on spring acreage certification, the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP), drought assistance programs, FSA farm loans and conservation programs.
Register for the webinar at this link.
To comply with program eligibility requirements, all producers are encouraged to contact their County FSA office to file an accurate acreage certification report by the applicable deadline.
The acreage reporting deadline for all spring-seeded crops, Conservation Reserve Program acres, perennial grass acres and cover crop acres is July 15, 2025. Prevented planted acres must be reported within 15 days of the final planting date of the crop. Failed acres should be reported before destruction of the crop, if applicable.
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy holders should note the acreage reporting date for NAP covered crops is the earlier of the date listed above or 15 calendar days before grazing or harvesting of the crop begins.
Producers who file accurate and timely acreage certification reports, including failed and prevented planted acreage, can prevent the potential loss of USDA program benefits.
For questions regarding acreage certification, producers should contact their County FSA office.
If you’ve suffered above normal expenses for hauling feed or water to livestock or hauling livestock to forage/grazing acres due to the impacts of drought, you may be eligible for financial assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).
For eligible producers in qualifying counties, ELAP provides financial assistance for:
• the transportation of water to livestock;
• the above normal cost of mileage for transporting feed to livestock; and
• the above normal cost of transporting livestock to forage/grazing acres.
Producers can check the ELAP Eligibility Dashboard to find out which counties have triggered for this program.
Eligible livestock include cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep, among others, that are maintained for commercial use and located in a county where the qualifying drought conditions occur. A county must have had D2 severe drought intensity on the U.S. Drought Monitor for eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period, or D3 or D4 drought intensity at any time during the normal grazing period. Producers must have risk in both eligible livestock and eligible grazing land in an eligible county to qualify for ELAP assistance.
TRANSPORTING WATER
For ELAP water transportation assistance, a producer must be transporting water to eligible livestock on eligible grazing land where the producer had adequate livestock watering systems or facilities in place before the drought occurred and where they do not normally require the transportation of water. Payments are for costs associated with personal labor, equipment, hired labor, and contracted water transportation fees. Cost of the water itself is not covered.
TRANSPORTING FEED
ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who incur above normal expenses for transporting feed to livestock during drought. The payment formula excludes the first 25 miles and any mileage over 1,000 miles. The reimbursement rate is 60% of the costs above what would normally have been incurred during the same time period in a normal (non-drought) year.
Livestock feed that is transported to livestock located on land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is eligible if the producer has an approved conservation plan with acceptable grazing practices developed in coordination with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
TRANSPORTING LIVESTOCK
ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who are hauling livestock to a new location for feed resources due to insufficient feed or grazing in drought-impacted areas. As with transporting feed, the payment formula for transporting livestock excludes the first 25 miles and any mileage over 1,000 miles. The reimbursement rate is 60% of the costs above what would normally have been incurred during the same time period in a normal (non-drought) year. The payment rate to transport livestock covers hauling livestock one-way, one haul per animal reimbursement and no payment for “empty miles.”
REPORTING LOSSES
Producers should contact FSA as soon as the loss of water or feed resources are known.
For ELAP eligibility, documentation of expenses is critical. Producers should maintain records and receipts associated with the costs of transporting water to eligible livestock, the costs of transporting feed to eligible livestock, and the costs of transporting eligible livestock to forage/grazing acres.
ELAP also offers assistance to producers impacted by wildfire. Contact your county FSA office for more information on ELAP resources for wildfire losses. In addition, beekeepers also can benefit from ELAP provisions and should contact their county FSA office within 15 calendar days of when a loss occurs or from when the loss is apparent.
The deadline to apply for ELAP assistance for 2025 losses is March 2, 2026.
For more information regarding ELAP, producers should contact their County FSA office.
FSA and NRCS program applicants for benefits are required to submit a completed CCC-902 Farming Operation Plan and CCC-941 Average Gross Income (AGI) Certification and Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information for FSA to determine the applicant’s payment eligibility and establish the maximum payment limitation applicable to the program applicant.
Participants are not required to annually submit new CCC-902s for payment eligibility and payment limitation purposes unless a change in the farming operation occurs that may affect the previous determination of record. A valid CCC-902 filed by the participant is considered to be a continuous certification used for all payment eligibility and payment limitation determinations applicable for the program benefits requested.
Participants are responsible for ensuring that all CCC-902 and CCC-941 and related forms on file in the county office are updated, current, and correct. Participants are required to timely notify the county office of any changes in the farming operation that may affect the previous determination of record by filing a new or updated CCC-902 as applicable. Changes that may require a new determination include, but are not limited to, a change of:
- Shares of a contract, which may reflect: a land lease from cash rent to share rent; a land lease from share rent to cash rent (subject to the cash rent tenant rule); a modification of a variable/fixed bushel-rent arrangement.
- The size of the producer’s farming operation by the addition or reduction of cropland that may affect the application of a cropland factor
- The structure of the farming operation, including any change to a member's share
- The contribution of farm inputs of capital, land, equipment, active personal labor, and/or active personal management
- Farming interests not previously disclosed on CCC-902 including the farming interests of a spouse or minor child
- Certifications of average AGI are required to be filed annually for participation in an annual USDA program. For multi-year conservation contracts and NRCS easements, a certification of AGI must be filed prior to approval of the contract or easement and is applicable for the duration of the contract period.
Participants are encouraged to file or review these forms within the deadlines established for each applicable program for which program benefits are being requested.
Farm Service Agency (FSA) is committed to providing our farm loan borrowers the tools necessary to be successful. FSA staff will provide guidance and counsel from the loan application process through the borrower’s graduation to commercial credit. While it is FSA’s commitment to advise borrowers as they identify goals and evaluate progress, it is crucial for borrowers to communicate with their farm loan staff when changes occur. It is the borrower’s responsibility to alert FSA to any of the following:
- Any proposed or significant changes in the farming operation
- Any significant changes to family income or expenses
- The development of problem situations
- Any losses or proposed significant changes in security
If a farm loan borrower can’t make payments to suppliers, other creditors, or FSA on time, they should contact their farm loan staff immediately to discuss loan servicing options.
For more information on FSA farm loan programs, contact the county FSA office or visit fsa.usda.gov.
The USDA Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Direct Farm Ownership loans can help farmers and ranchers become owner-operators of family farms, improve and expand current operations, increase agricultural productivity, and assist with land tenure to save farmland for future generations.
There are three types of Direct Farm Ownership Loans: regular, down payment and joint financing. FSA also offers a Direct Farm Ownership Microloan option for smaller financial needs up to $50,000.
Joint financing allows FSA to provide more farmers and ranchers with access to capital. FSA lends up to 50 percent of the total amount financed. A commercial lender, a state program or the seller of the property being purchased, provides the balance of loan funds, with or without an FSA guarantee. The maximum loan amount for a joint financing loan is $600,000, and the repayment period for the loan is up to 40 years.
The operation must be an eligible farm enterprise. Farm Ownership loan funds cannot be used to finance nonfarm enterprises and all applicants must be able to meet general eligibility requirements. Loan applicants are also required to have participated in the business operations of a farm or ranch for at least three years out of the 10 years prior to the date the application is submitted. The applicant must show documentation that their participation in the business operation of the farm or ranch was not solely as a laborer.
For more information about farm loans, contact the farm loan team at the nearest county FSA office or visit fsa.usda.gov.
Managing Nutrients Leads to Better Yields, Cleaner Water
Conservation planners use site-specific nitrogen and phosphorus planning thresholds for leaching and runoff within the Conservation Assessment Ranking Tool (CART) to help producers protect water quality.
Those same planning thresholds are now publicly available in the new Geographic Information System (GIS) Site Risk for Water Quality (SRWQ) tool available on the Dynamic Soils (DS) Hub: https://dynamicsoilshub.usda.gov/srwq/.
Managing Nutrients
Nutrients can help or harm, either leading to bountiful harvests or contributing to water quality issues. How we manage nutrients affects how much is taken up by plants and how much is lost from our farm fields. Farmers and ranchers play an important role in finding solutions to prevent nutrients from making their way into our streams, rivers and ground water supply.
You can help improve water quality by managing nutrients, using the right kind, the right amount, applied at the right time, and using the proper method of application. NRCS can help you use nutrients wisely – through a conservation practice called nutrient management. Nutrient management allows you to achieve optimal agricultural and economic outcomes while improving the quality of air, soil and water.
Through nutrient management, you perform a soil or plant tissue test to determine nutrient needs and apply only the amount needed to optimize crop yields. To improve timing, nutrients should be applied when plants can best absorb them, while considering factors like weather, irrigation events and crops that will follow. Sometimes it’s best to split nutrient applications to increase the chances of nutrient uptake by the crop while minimizing losses through runoff and leaching.
Managing nutrients comes with benefits for you, too. You can see cost savings from lower inputs and potential yield increases, thus creating a win-win situation.
For more information, contact your County USDA Service Center or visit nrcs.usda.gov.
|
The new customer kiosks from USDA’s Farm Service Agency are now available at every county office nationwide. These kiosks help to streamline your visit to your local county office and easily access a variety of features, such as signing FSA documents, utilizing the Loan Assistance Tool, browsing USDA programs, accessing the internet, accessing necessary personal information, and signing up for a Login.gov account, which provides access to farmers.gov level two features and other USDA and U.S. government web resources.
Future kiosk functionality enhancements include a customer check-in application, self-service option for FSA program applications and documents, financial inquiries and more.
Learn more about how FSA is modernizing our customer experience at this blog post.
May 26, 2025 – USDA Service Centers closed for federal holiday
June 2, 2025 – 2024 Marketing Assistance Loan availability deadline for corn, dry peas, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, safflower seed, chickpeas, soybeans, sunflower seed
June 19, 2025 - USDA Service Centers closed for federal holiday
July 15, 2025 - FSA deadline to report all spring-seeded crops, perennial forage and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres
***Please note any above NAP calendar reference may not be inclusive for all NAP-covered crops; NAP participants should contact their County FSA Office to confirm important program deadlines.
OPERATING/OWNERSHIP
Farm Operating: 5.125%
Farm Operating – Limited Resource: 5%
Farm Operating – Microloan: 5%
Farm Ownership: 5.625%
Farm Ownership – Limited Resource: 5%
Farm Ownership - Joint Financing: 3.625%
Farm Ownership - Down Payment: 1.625%
Emergency - Actual Loss: 3.75%
FARM STORAGE FACILITY LOAN
(April rates as May not yet published)
3-year term: 4%
5-year term: 4.125%
7-year term: 4.125%
10-year term: 4.25%
12-year term: 4.375%
MARKETING ASSISTANCE
(April rate as May not yet published)
Commodity Loan: 5.125%
Top of page
Nebraska FSA and NRCS State Office
|
Farm Service Agency
1121 Lincoln Mall Suite 330
Lincoln, NE 68508
Phone: (402) 437-5581
Fax: (844) 930-0237
|
Natural Resources
Conservation Service
1121 Lincoln Mall Suite 360
Lincoln, NE 68508
Phone: (402) 437-5300
|
|
|
Tim Divis, FSA
Deputy State Executive Director
timothy.divis@usda.gov
FSA State Office Programs Chiefs
Cathy Anderson, Product. & Compliance
Pat Lechner, Price Support & Conserv.
Mark Wilke, Farm Loans
Nick Elting, Administrative Officer
|
Robert Lawson, NRCS
State Conservationist
robert.lawson@usda.gov
FSA State Committee
Bill Armbrust, Elkhorn
Aaron LaPointe, Winnebago
Becky Potmesil, Alliance
Paula Sue Steffen, Humboldt
|
|
Find your local USDA Service Center at farmers.gov.
Visit the Nebraska FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov/ne.
Visit the Nebraska NRCS website at www.nrcs.usda.gov/ne.
|
|
