North Dakota FSA eNews - May, 2025
In This Issue:
July 15, 2025: Acreage Reporting Deadline for 2025 Crop Year Spring Planted Crops and Perennial Forage
July 15, 2025: Deadline to complete 2024 ARC-IC Yield Certifications
August 15, 2025: 2024 ECAP Application Deadline
Producers in Billings, Dunn, Golden Valley, McKenzie, McLean, Mountrail, and Williams Counties are eligible to apply for the 2025 Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) benefits on native pasture and improved pasture.
LFP provides compensation if you suffer grazing losses for covered livestock due to drought on privately owned or cash leased land or fire on federally managed land.
County committees can only accept LFP applications after notification is received by the National Office of qualifying drought or if a federal agency prohibits producers from grazing normal permitted livestock on federally managed lands due to qualifying fire. You must complete a CCC-853 and the required supporting documentation no later than March 2, 2026, for 2025 losses.
For additional Information about LFP, including eligible livestock and fire criteria, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
If you’ve suffered livestock feed or grazing losses due to recent wildfires, you could be eligible for assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).
ELAP covers physically damaged or destroyed livestock feed that was purchased, or mechanically harvested forage or feedstuffs intended for use as feed for your eligible livestock. In order to be considered eligible, harvested forage must be baled. Forage that is only cut, raked or windrowed is not eligible. You must submit a notice of loss to your local FSA office no later than the annual program application deadline, which is March 2, 2026, for calendar year 2025 losses.
ELAP also covers up to 150 lost grazing days in instances when you’ve been forced to remove livestock from a grazing pasture due to wildfire or other natural disaster event.
You should maintain records and receipts documenting that livestock were removed from the grazing pasture due to wildfire, costs of transporting livestock feed to eligible livestock, receipts for equipment rental fees for hay lifts, feed purchase receipts and the number of gallons of water transported to livestock due to water shortages.
For beekeepers, ELAP covers beehive losses (the physical structure) in instances where the hive has been destroyed by a natural disaster including wildfire.
For more information regarding ELAP, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting applications for the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) in 2 counties to address damage from 2024 Wildfires.
The following counties are eligible for ECP assistance: Burleigh and Sioux. Two additional counties are requesting funds to host a signup for 2025 fires.
ECP helps you with the cost to restore the farmland to pre-disaster conditions. You may receive up to 75 percent of the cost of approved restoration activity. Limited resourced, socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers and ranchers may receive up to 90 percent cost-share. A 25 percent advance payment will be allowed for repair or replacement of fencing. The payment limitation for ECP is $500,000 per disaster, and the funds are limited to activities to return the land to the relative pre-disaster condition.
The approved ECP practices under this authorization include Fence Restoration and others.
You must apply for assistance prior to beginning reconstructive work. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), FSA must complete an environmental compliance review prior to producers taking any actions. Submitting an application after reconstructive work has been completed may not qualify for ECP. Conservation concerns that were present on the land prior to the disaster are not eligible for ECP assistance.
FSA county committees will evaluate applications based on an on-site inspection of the damaged land, taking into consideration the type and extent of the damage. An on-site inspection does not guarantee that cost-share funding will be provided.
For more information on ECP, contact your County USDA Service Center, or visit https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/programs.
Farm Service Agency (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.
For more information, contact your local county USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
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.
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:
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· Wheat - $30.69
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Eligible oilseeds:
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· Corn - $42.91
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· Canola – $31.83
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· Sorghum - $42.52
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· Crambe – $19.08
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· Barley - $21.67
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· Flax - $20.97
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· Oats - $77.66
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· Mustard - $11.36
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· Upland cotton & Extra-long staple cotton - $84.74
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· Rapeseed -$23.63
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· Long & medium grain rice - $76.94
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· Safflower - $26.32
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· Peanuts - $75.51
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· Sesame - $16.83
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· Soybeans - $29.76
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· Sunflower – $27.23
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· Dry peas - $16.02
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· Lentils - $19.30
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· Small Chickpeas - $31.45
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· Large Chickpeas - $24.02
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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.
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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 CCC-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.
NAP provides financial assistance to you for crops that aren’t eligible for crop insurance to protect against lower yields or crops unable to be planted due to natural disasters including freeze, hail, excessive moisture, excessive wind or hurricanes, flood, excessive heat and qualifying drought (includes native grass for grazing), among others.
To receive payment, you had to purchase NAP coverage for 2025 crops and file a notice of loss the earlier of 15 days of the occurrence of the disaster or when losses become apparent or 15 days of the final harvest date. For hand-harvested crops and certain perishable crops, you must notify FSA within 72 hours of when a loss becomes apparent.
Eligible crops must be commercially produced agricultural commodities for which crop insurance is not available, including perennial grass forage and grazing crops, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, floriculture, ornamental nursery, aquaculture, turf grass, ginseng, honey, syrup, bioenergy, and industrial crops.
For more information on NAP, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/nap.
The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops, including mechanically harvested forage with NAP coverage, to protect against natural disasters that occur during the coverage, resulting in loss of production, loss of value, or prevented planting of an eligible crop.
If you have NAP coverage on mechanically harvested forage, you must:
- Maintain separate production records for each unit, crop, practice, crop type, and intended use.
- Submit production records to FSA by the designated production reporting date for the crop.
- Notify your FSA administrative county office before grazing, abandoning, or destroying forage acreage reported, on FSA form FSA-578, as intended to be mechanically harvested; and request an appraisal.
- Notify your FSA administrative county office of a loss and timely file CCC-576, Notice of Loss and Application for Payment, Part B, the earlier of:
- 15 calendar days after the disaster occurs, or damage first becomes apparent.
- 15 calendar days after the crop’s normal harvest date.
- If you change your intended use or experience a loss during the coverage period, you must:
- Establish and maintain representative sample areas when an appraisal of the acreage is required.
- Inform your FSA administrative county office of the location of representative sample areas within 15 days of placing the panels.
- Request an appraisal of the representative sample areas at the end of harvest period but before first freeze.
For more information on NAP and NAP compliance requirements you must follow to retain NAP coverage, contact your local USDA service center.
Producers planning to use the commodity loan program for their 2024 crops are reminded that May 31, 2025, is the deadline for filing applications for the following crops: corn, dry peas, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard, safflower, chickpeas, soybeans and sunflowers. These loans carry a nine-month maturity and can be repaid with cash at disbursement to loan maturity. To be eligible, producers must have produced an eligible loan commodity for the applicable crop year, complied with annual program requirements, maintain beneficial interest (have title to the commodity and retain control of the commodity), request MAL on or before the final loan availability date for a specific commodity, and, if required, submit lien waivers for any liens existing on the crop for which MAL is being requested. Producers interested in a commodity loan on the above listed commodities should contact their local county FSA office staff. Since May 31st is a non-workday, the final date to request a commodity loan is extended to June 2, 2025.
Farm loan borrowers who have pledged real estate as security for their Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct or guaranteed loans are responsible for maintaining loan collateral. Borrowers must obtain prior consent or approval from FSA or the guaranteed lender for any transaction that affects real estate security. These transactions include, but are not limited to:
- Leases of any kind
- Easements of any kind
- Subordinations
- Partial releases
- Sales
Failure to meet or follow the requirements in the loan agreement, promissory note, and other security instruments could lead to nonmonetary default which could jeopardize your current and future loans.
It is critical that borrowers keep an open line of communication with their FSA loan staff or guaranteed lender when it comes to changes in their operation. For more information on borrower responsibilities, read Your FSA Farm Loan Compass.
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.
When changes in farm ownership or operation take place, a farm reconstitution is necessary. The reconstitution — or recon — is the process of combining or dividing farms or tracts of land based on the farming operation.
To be effective for the current fiscal year, farm combinations and farm divisions must be requested by August 1 of the fiscal year for farms subject to the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. A reconstitution is considered to be requested when all of the required signatures are on FSA-155 and all other applicable documentation, such as proof of ownership, is submitted.
Total Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and non-ARC/PLC farms may be reconstituted at any time.
The following are the different methods used when doing a farm recon:
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Estate Method — the division of bases, allotments and quotas for a parent farm among heirs in settling an estate
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Designation of Landowner Method — may be used when (1) part of a farm is sold or ownership is transferred; (2) an entire farm is sold to two or more persons; (3) farm ownership is transferred to two or more persons; (4) part of a tract is sold or ownership is transferred; (5) a tract is sold to two or more persons; or (6) tract ownership is transferred to two or more persons. In order to use this method, the land sold must have been owned for at least three years, or a waiver granted, and the buyer and seller must sign a Memorandum of Understanding
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DCP Cropland Method — the division of bases in the same proportion that the DCP cropland for each resulting tract relates to the DCP cropland on the parent tract
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Default Method — the division of bases for a parent farm with each tract maintaining the bases attributed to the tract level when the reconstitution is initiated in the system.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts hundreds of surveys every year and prepares reports covering virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture.
If you receive a survey questionnaire, please respond quickly and online if possible.
The results of the surveys help determine the structure of USDA farm programs, such as soil rental rates for the Conservation Reserve Program and prices and yields used for the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs. This county-level data is critical for USDA farm payment determinations. Survey responses also help associations, businesses and policymakers advocate for their industry and help educate others on the importance of agriculture.
NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.
NASS data is available online at nass.usda.gov/Publications and through the searchable Quick Stats database. Watch a video on how NASS data is used at youtube.com/watch?v=m-4zjnh26io&feature=youtu.be.
Farm Storage Facility Loan, 3-Year Term: 3.875%
Farm Storage Facility Loan, 5-Year Term: 4.000%
Farm Storage Facility Loan, 7-Year Term: 4.125%
Farm Storage Facility Loan, 10-Year Term: 4.250%
Farm Storage Facility Loan, 12-Year Term: 4.375%
Commodity Loans: 5.000%
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North Dakota FSA eNews
North Dakota State Office
1025 28th St. South
Fargo, ND 58103
Phone: 701-239-5224
Fax: 855-813-6644
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State Office Staff:
State Executive Director: Vacant
Deputy State Executive Director: Kristen Knudtson
Administrative Officer: Amber Briss
Compliance/Payment Limitations: Kristen Knudtson, acting
Conservation/Livestock: Beau Peterson
ARC/PLC/NAP/Disaster: Brandi Laframboise
Farm Loan Programs: Lisa Menne, acting
Price Support: Brian Haugen
Outreach/Communication Coordinator: Cierra Hauck
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