Lincoln County FSA Newsletter - May 2025
In This Issue:
May 7, 2025 - Monthly Webinar Series: Working with FSA Online
May 26, 2025 – Memorial Day. USDA Service Centers will be closed.
May 31, 2025 – Final date to request a MAL for 2024 corn, dry peas, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, rice, safflower seed, chickpeas, soybeans, and sunflower seeds.
May 31, 2025 – Deadline to obtain 2026 crop year NAP coverage for nursery crops.
May 31, 2025 - Deadline to submit a 2025 acreage report for nursery crops.
June 4, 2025 - Monthly Webinar Series: Topic TBD
June 16, 2025 – Nominations open for 2025 FSA County Committee Elections.
June 19, 2025 - Juneteenth. USDA Service Centers will be closed.
July 1, 2025 - End of the Primary Nesting Season.
July 2, 2025 - Monthly Webinar Series: Topic TBD
July 4, 2025 - Independence Day. USDA Service Centers will be closed.
July 15, 2025 - Acreage reporting deadline for perennial forages, CRP, and spring-planted crops.
July 15, 2025 - Deadline to report actual harvest production of 2024 NAP-covered crops for actual production history (APH) purposes. Applies for forage and most spring-planted crops. See your Summary of Coverage for your crop's deadline.
July 15, 2025 - Final date to report 2024 production for ARC-IC.
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 Maps are now available at the Lincoln County FSA Office for acreage reporting purposes. If you wish to receive your maps by e-mail, please call our office or email Roxy Dickerson at roxy.dickerson@usda.gov. Please see the following acreage reporting deadlines for Lincoln County:
· July 15, 2025: perennial forages, CRP, and spring-planted crops.
In order to maintain program eligibility and benefits, you must file timely acreage reports. Failure to file an acreage report by the crop acreage reporting deadline may cause ineligibility for future program benefits. FSA will not accept acreage reports provided more than a year after the acreage reporting deadline.
Producers are encouraged to file their acreage reports as soon as planting is completed.
 U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, on National Agriculture Day, announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing up to $10 billion directly to agricultural producers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) for the 2024 crop year. Administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), ECAP will help agricultural producers mitigate the impacts of increased input costs and falling commodity prices.
Authorized by the American Relief Act, 2025, these economic relief payments are based on planted and prevented planted crop acres for eligible commodities for the 2024 crop year. To streamline and simplify the delivery of ECAP, FSA will begin sending pre-filled applications to producers who submitted acreage reports to FSA for 2024 eligible ECAP commodities soon after the signup period opens on March 19, 2025. Producers do not have to wait for their pre-filled ECAP application to apply. They can visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap to apply using a login.gov account or contact their local FSA office to request an application once the signup period opens.
Eligible Commodities and Payment Rates
The commodities below are eligible for these per-acre payment rates:
- Wheat - $30.69
- Corn - $42.91
- Sorghum -$42.52
- Barley - $21.67
- Oats - $77.66
- Upland cotton & Extra-long staple cotton - $84.74
- Long & medium grain rice - $76.94
- Peanuts - $75.51
- Soybeans - $29.76
- Dry Peas - $16.02
- Lentils - $19.30
- Small Chickpeas - $31.45
- Large Chickpeas - $24.02
Eligible Oilseeds:
- Canola -$31.83
- Crambe - $19.08
- Flax - $20.97
- Mustard - $11.36
- Rapeseed - $23.63
- Safflower - $26.32
- Sesame - $16.83
- Sunflower - $27.23
Producer Eligibility
Eligible producers must report 2024 crop year planted and prevented planted acres to FSA on an FSA-578, Report of Acreage form. Producers who have not previously reported 2024 crop year acreage or filed a notice of loss for prevented planted crops must submit an acreage report by the Aug. 15, 2025, deadline. Eligible producers can visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap for eligibility and payment details.
Applying for ECAP
Producers must submit ECAP applications to their local FSA county office by Aug. 15, 2025. Only one application is required for all ECAP eligible commodities nationwide. ECAP applications can be submitted to FSA in-person, electronically using Box and One-Span, by fax or by applying online at fsa.usda.gov/ecap utilizing a secure login.gov account.
If not already on file for the 2024 crop year, producers must have the following forms on file with FSA:
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Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet.
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Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities (if applicable).
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Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual or legal entity.
- Form CCC 943, 75 percent of Average Gross Income from Farming, Ranching, or Forestry Certification (if applicable).
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AD-1026, Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification.
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SF-3881, Direct Deposit.
Except for the new CCC-943, most producers, especially those who have previously participated in FSA programs, likely have these forms on file. However, those who are uncertain and want to confirm the status of their forms or need to submit the new Form-943, can contact their local FSA county office.
If a producer does not receive a pre-filled ECAP application, and they planted or were prevented from planting ECAP eligible commodities in 2024, they should contact their local FSA office.
ECAP Payments and Calculator
ECAP payments will be issued as applications are approved. Initial ECAP payments will be factored by 85% to ensure that total program payments do not exceed available funding. If additional funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.
ECAP assistance will be calculated using a flat payment rate for the eligible commodity multiplied by the eligible reported acres. Payments are based on acreage and not production. For acres reported as prevented plant, ECAP assistance will be calculated at 50%.
For ECAP payment estimates, producers are encouraged to visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap to use the ECAP online calculator.
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.
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a second round of payments coming this week for specialty crop producers through the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) program, providing up to $1.3 billion in additional program assistance. U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) already delivered just under $900 million in first round payments to eligible producers.
About MASC
First announced in December 2024, MASC authorized $2 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation funds to assist specialty crop growers with rising input costs and aid in the expansion of domestic markets. In January 2025, in response to stakeholder feedback and program demand, funding for MASC was increased to $2.65 billion. The MASC application period closed on Jan. 10, 2025.
MASC is designed to help specialty crop producers meet higher marketing costs related to:
- perishability of specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, floriculture, nursery crops and herbs;
- specialized handling and transport equipment with temperature and humidity control;
- packaging to prevent damage;
- moving perishables to market quickly; and
- higher labor costs.
MASC covers the following commercially marketed specialty crops:
- fruits (fresh, dried);
- vegetables (including dry edible beans and peas, mushrooms, and vegetable seed);
- tree nuts;
- and other specialty crops.
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FSA is cleaning up our producer record database and needs your help. Please report any changes of address, zip code, phone number, email address or an incorrect name or business name on file to our office. You should also report changes in your farm operation, like the addition of a farm by lease or purchase. You should also report any changes to your operation in which you reorganize to form a Trust, LLC or other legal entity.
FSA and NRCS program participants are required to promptly report changes in their farming operation to the County Committee in writing and to update their Farm Operating Plan on form CCC-902.
To update your records, contact your Lincoln County USDA Service Center at 509-725-4501
Lincoln County USDA Service Center
1310 Morgan St.
PO Box 47
Davenport, WA 99122
Phone: 509-725-4501
Fax: 855-843-6123
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Ashley Smith
County Executive Director
509-725-4501 ext. 124
ashley.smith2@usda.gov
Abigail Braun
Program Analyst
509-725-4501 ext. 105 abigail.braun@usda.gov
Lincoln County FSA Committee
Joe Rosman - LAA #1
Andrew Gray - LAA #2
Deric Schmierer - LAA #3
Debbie Roberts - Advisor
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Roxy Dickerson
Program Analyst
509-725-4501 ext. 108 roxy.dickerson@usda.gov
Mitchell Hughes
Program Analyst
509-725-4501 ext. 107 mitchell.hughes@usda.gov
Next COC Meeting Scheduled:
May 22, 2025 @ 8:30am
NOTE: COC Regular Meetings are open to the public. Times/dates subject to change. Contact the office to confirm.
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Persons with disabilities who require accommodations to participate in this meeting should contact Ashley Smith, or dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunication relay services at least 3 days prior to an event to request accommodations (e.g., an interpreter, translator, seating arrangements, etc.) or materials in alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape - captioning, etc.)
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