USDA Montana Newsletter - July 2025
In This Issue:
USDA in Montana reminds agricultural producers of important Farm Service Agency (FSA) program dates. Contact your local service center to apply and with any questions. Visit online at farmers.gov and fsa.usda.gov/mt.
July 4, 2025: Office closure for Federal Holiday: Independence Day
July 15, 2025: The Acreage Reporting Date for Spring Alfalfa Seed, all other spring seeded crops, Perennial Forage, Hemp, and Grazing acreage and CRP acres is 15 days before the onset of harvest or grazing, or July 15, whichever is earlier.
Aug. 1, 2025: Deadline to request a farm reconstitution or farm transfer for 2025.
Aug. 1, 2025: All nomination forms for the 2025 County Committee election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2025.
Aug. 15, 2025: Deadline for producers to submit their Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) applications to their local FSA county office.
Sept. 1, 2025: Office Closure for Labor Day federal holiday.
Sept. 2, 2025: NAP application closing date for fall and spring seeded Canola and all Value Loss Crops.
September 30, 2025: Acreage Reporting Date for Value-loss and controlled environment crops (except nursery).
Sept. 30, 2025: NAP application closing date for all annual & perennial grass & mixed forage, garlic, rye, speltz, triticale & wheat. Please note that the acreage reporting date for your NAP covered crops is the earlier of the established FSA acreage reporting date for the crop or 15 calendar days before the onset of harvest or grazing of the specific crop acreage being reported.
*Note: The Acreage Reporting Date for Spring Alfalfa Seed, all other spring seeded crops, Perennial Forage, Hemp, Grazing acreage and CRP acres is 15 days before the onset of harvest or grazing, or July 15, whichever is earlier.
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Happy Summer! The good weather news is that big parts of Montana have recently received some much-needed moisture, but mother nature has also brought devastating hail, ongoing drought, and even a tornado to some parts of our state. I hope the rain actually helped, and concern and best wishes go to the farmers and ranchers across Montana who have experienced very unfortunate and damaging weather. As a reminder, for those producers who have experienced weather related losses, please contact the local Farm Service Agency (FSA) service center to report those losses.
Speaking of disaster recovery assistance, applications for the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) must be signed and returned to FSA by Aug. 15, 2025. The ECAP program is designed to help producers mitigate the impacts of rising input costs and declining commodity prices. To date, we have paid nearly $179 million in ECAP assistance to Montana producers.
Additionally, we recently disbursed more than $38 million to ranchers who suffered grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire in 2023 and /or 2024.
I also have a few reminders that I would like to share. The July 15, 2025, deadline for spring acreage reporting is quickly approaching. If you haven’t completed your acreage reports yet, I encourage you to call your local FSA county office and make an appointment to do so. To maintain program eligibility and benefits, it is vital that producers file timely acreage reports.
The 2025 County Committee Election season has begun. FSA County Committees play a critical role in the functioning of local FSA offices. These committees are comprised of local producers elected by local producers, and election season is under way with nominations being accepted at County Offices now through Aug. 1, 2025. To obtain a nomination packet contact your local FSA county office or visit the County Committee Elections website.
I want to express my deep gratitude for all the hard work being done by our field office staff. Both the farm program staff and farm loan program staff have impressively carried the load to provide great customer service. Their excellent efforts to help and support producers across Montana are a testament to their dedication to agriculture and the mission of the FSA. They put Farmers First every single day!
If you have any questions on how to apply for or need any additional information on any of our programs, please reach out to your local County FSA offices.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is extending the prevented planting crop reporting deadline for producers affected by spring flooding, excessive moisture, or qualifying drought.
Producers who intended to plant this spring, but were unable due to weather conditions, now have until the acreage reporting deadline for the applicable crop being claimed as prevented planting. July 15 is a major deadline for most crops, but acreage reporting deadlines vary by county and by crop.
Producers need to report prevented planting acres to retain eligibility for FSA program benefits. Normally, the prevented planting reporting deadline is 15 calendar days after the final planting date for a crop as established by FSA and the Risk Management Agency (RMA). The prevented planting reporting deadline extension only applies to FSA and does not change any RMA crop insurance reporting deadline requirements.
The extension does not apply to crops covered by FSA’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). Producers should check with their local FSA office regarding prevented planting provisions for NAP-covered crops.
Producers are encouraged to contact their local FSA office as soon as possible to make an appointment to report prevented planting acres and submit their spring crop acreage report. To locate your local FSA office, visit farmers.gov/service-locator.
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This is likely no surprise to you, but drought persists across the western U.S. and is intensifying in some areas. No geographic area is immune to the potential of drought at any given time. The U.S. Drought Monitor provides a weekly drought assessment, and it plays an important role in USDA programs that help farmers and ranchers recover from drought.
Fact #1 - Numerous agencies use the Drought Monitor to inform drought-related decisions.
The map identifies areas of drought and labels them by intensity on a weekly basis. It categorizes the entire country as being in one of six levels of drought. The first two, None and Abnormally Dry (D0), are not considered to be drought. The next four describe increasing levels of drought: Moderate (D1), Severe (D2), Extreme (D3) and Exceptional (D4).
While many entities consult the Drought Monitor for drought information, drought declarations are made by federal, state and local agencies that may or may not use the Drought Monitor to inform their decisions. Some of the ways USDA uses it to determine a producer’s eligibility for certain drought assistance programs, like the Livestock Forage Disaster Program and Emergency Haying or Grazing on Conservation Reserve Program acres and to “fast-track” Secretarial drought disaster designations.
Fact #2 - U.S. Drought Monitor is made with more than precipitation data.
When you think about drought, you probably think about water, or the lack of it. Precipitation plays a major role in the creation of the Drought Monitor, but the map’s author considers numerous indicators, including drought impacts and local insight from over 450 expert observers around the country. Authors use several dozen indicators to assess drought, including precipitation, streamflow, reservoir levels, temperature and evaporative demand, soil moisture and vegetation health. Because the drought monitor depicts both short and long‐term drought conditions, the authors must look at data for multiple timeframes. The final map produced each week represents a summary of the story being told by all the pieces of data. To help tell that story, authors don’t just look at data. They converse over the course of the map-making week with experts across the country and draw information about drought impacts from media reports and private citizens.
Fact #3 - A real person, using real data, updates the map.
Each week’s map author, not a computer, processes and analyzes data to update the drought monitor. The map authors are trained climatologists or meteorologists from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (the academic partner and website host of the Drought Monitor), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and USDA. The author’s job is to do what a computer can’t – use their expertise to reconcile the sometimes-conflicting stories told by each stream of data into a single assessment.
Fact #4 - The Drought Monitor provides a current snapshot, not a forecast.
The Drought Monitor is a “snapshot” of conditions observed during the most recent week and builds off the previous week’s map. The map is released on Thursdays and depicts conditions based on data for the week that ended the preceding Tuesday. Rain that falls on the Wednesday just before the USDM’s release won’t be reflected until the next map is published. This provides a consistent, week‐to‐week product and gives the author a window to assess the data and come up with a final map.
Fact #5 – Your input can be part of the drought-monitoring process.
State climatologists and other trained observers in the drought monitoring network relay on-the-ground information from numerous sources to the US Drought monitor author each week. That can include information that you contribute.
The Drought Monitor serves as a trigger for multiple forms of federal disaster relief for agricultural producers, and sometimes producers contact the author to suggest that drought conditions in their area are worse than what the latest drought monitor shows. When the author gets a call like that, it prompts them to look closely at all available data for that area, to see whether measurements of precipitation, temperature, soil moisture and other indicators corroborate producer-submitted reports. This is the process that authors follow whether they receive one report or one hundred reports, although reports from more points may help state officials and others know where to look for impacts.
There are multiple ways to contribute your observations:
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Talk to your state climatologist - Find the current list at the American Association of State Climatologists website.
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Email - Emails sent to droughtmonitor@unl.edu inform the USDM authors.
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Become a CoCoRaHS observer - Submit drought reports along with daily precipitation observations to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network.
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Submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) - go.unl.edu/CMOR.
For more information, read our Ask the Expert blog with a NDMC climatologist or visit farmers.gov/protection-recovery.
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Farmers and ranchers know all too well that natural disasters can be a common, and likely a costly, variable to their operation. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has emergency assistance programs to provide assistance when disasters strike, and for some of those programs, a disaster designation may be the eligibility trigger. When natural disaster occurs, there is a process for requesting a USDA Secretarial disaster designation for a county. You can play a vital role in this process.
If you have experienced a production loss as a result of a natural disaster you may submit a request to your local FSA county office for your county to be evaluated for a Secretarial disaster designation. Once a request is received, the county office will collect disaster data and create a Loss Assessment Report. The County Emergency Board will review the Loss Assessment Report and determine if a recommendation is sent forward to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for the designation.
For more information on FSA disaster programs and disaster designations, contact your Local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
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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.
For questions on your farm reconstitution, contact your Local County USDA Service Center.
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Farmers and ranchers know all too well that natural disasters can be a common, and likely a costly, variable to their operation. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has emergency assistance programs to provide assistance when disasters strike, and for some of those programs, a disaster designation may be the eligibility trigger.
FSA administers four types of disaster designations.
USDA Secretarial Disaster Designation
- The designation process can be initiated by individual farmers, local government officials, State governors, State agriculture commissions, tribal councils or the FSA State Executive Director
- This designation is triggered by a 30-percent or greater production loss to at least one crop because of a natural disaster, or at least one producer who sustained individual losses because of a natural disaster and is unable to obtain commercial financing to cover those losses
- In 2012, USDA developed a fast-track process for disaster declarations for severe drought. This provides for a nearly automatic designation when, during the growing season, any portion of a county meets the D2 (Severe Drought) drought intensity value for eight consecutive weeks or a higher drought intensity value for any length of time as reported by the U.S. Drought Monitor (https://www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu/)
Administrator’s Physical Loss Notification
- This designation is initiated by the FSA State Executive Director.
- The designation is triggered by physical damage and losses because of a natural disaster, including but not limited to dead livestock, collapsed buildings, and destroyed farm structures.
Presidential Designation
- A Presidential major disaster designation and emergency declaration is initiated by the Governor of the impacted state through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
- This designation is triggered by damage and losses caused by a disaster of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capability of the State and local governments.
Quarantine Designation
- This designation is requested of the Secretary of Agriculture by the FSA State Executive Director.
- A quarantine designation is triggered by damage and losses caused by the effects of a plant or animal quarantine approved by the Secretary under the Plant Protection Act or animal quarantine laws.
All four types of designations immediately trigger the availability of low-interest emergency loans to eligible producers in all primary and contiguous counties. FSA borrowers in these counties who are unable to make their scheduled payments on any debt may be authorized to have certain set asides. Additional disaster assistance requiring a designation may also be provided by new programs in the future.
For more information on FSA disaster programs and disaster designations, contact your local USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
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USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds drought-impacted producers in Montana that they may be eligible for assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).
For eligible livestock 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.* *Hauling livestock both ways starting in 2023, one haul per animal reimbursement and no payment for “empty miles.”
Eligible livestock include cattle, bison, goats and sheep, among others, that are maintained for commercial use and located in a county where 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
Producers must be transporting water to eligible livestock on eligible grazing land where adequate livestock watering systems or facilities were in place before the drought occurred and where water transportation is not normally required. ELAP covers costs associated with personal labor, equipment, hired labor, and contracted water transportation fees. Cost of the water itself is not covered. ELAP covers $0.10 per gallon to transport water.
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 cost above what would normally would 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
The payment rate to transport feed is $3.50/ loaded mile for expenses above what would have normally been incurred.
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 is $3.50/loaded mile for expenses above what would have normally been incurred and covers hauling livestock one-way, one haul per animal reimbursement and no payment for “empty miles.”
An online tool is now available to help ranchers document and estimate payments to cover feed and livestock transportation costs caused by drought.
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, the costs of additional feed purchases, and the costs of transporting eligible livestock to forage or other grazing acres.
More Information
Producers interested in ELAP assistance can contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more or to apply for programs.
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Agricultural producers impacted by drought can now request haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres in certain Montana counties, while still receiving their full rental payment for the land.
Outside of the primary nesting season, emergency haying and grazing of CRP acres may be authorized to provide relief to livestock producers in areas affected by a severe drought or similar natural disaster. The primary nesting season for Montana ended July 15. Counties are approved for emergency haying and grazing due to drought conditions on a county-by-county basis when a county is designated as level “D2 Drought - Severe” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. FSA provides a weekly, online update of eligible counties.
Producers can use the CRP acreage under the emergency grazing provisions for their livestock or may grant another livestock producer use of the CRP acreage.
Producers interested in emergency haying or grazing of CRP acres must notify their FSA county office before starting any activities. This includes producers accessing CRP acres held by someone else. To maintain contract compliance, producers must have their conservation plan modified by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Emergency CRP Haying and Grazing Option
CRP emergency haying and grazing is available in eligible counties as long as stand condition can support grazing and a modified conservation plan is in place. In eligible counties, hay may be cut once each program year (Oct. 1-Sept. 30). According to an approved conservation plan, haying must conclude prior to Aug. 31 to allow time for regrowth prior to winter conditions.
CRP emergency grazing is available in eligible counties as long as it does not exceed 90 days each program year (Oct. 1-Sept. 30) and must stop when the minimum grazing height is reached, as established within the modified CRP conservation plan or when the county is no longer eligible for emergency haying and grazing.
Non-Emergency CRP Haying and Grazing Option
For producers not in an eligible county, there are options available under non-emergency haying and grazing provisions outside of the primary nesting season, including:
- Haying of all CRP practices, except for CP12 Wildlife Food Plots and several tree practices not more than once every three years for a 25% payment reduction. For non-emergency haying requests, 25% of the requested acreage must be left unhayed.
- Grazing of CRP acres not more than every other year for a 25% payment reduction.
Livestock Forage Disaster Program Provisions
If the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) triggers in a county for 2025 grazing losses due to drought, the provisions for CRP emergency haying and grazing change. There may be restrictions on grazing carrying capacity and which CRP practices can be hayed. Montana currently has 29 counties where LFP has triggered and where certain CRP emergency grazing and haying restrictions might apply.
Additional Drought Assistance
Other drought assistance programs are available for livestock producers. Producers who experience livestock deaths and feed losses due to natural disasters may be eligible for the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program. This program also provides eligible producers with compensation for feed losses as well as water hauling expenses and above normal expenses for hauling feed to livestock and hauling livestock to forage or other grazing acres.
Additional disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including the farmers.gov Drought Webpage, Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Loan Assistance Tool.
For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent. For FSA and NRCS programs, they should contact their local USDA Service Center.
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USDA offers disaster assistance and low-interest loan programs to assist you with recovery efforts following recent severe storms. Available programs and loans include:
Disaster Assistance Programs:
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Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) - offers payments to eligible producers for livestock death losses in excess of normal mortality due to adverse weather.
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Tree Assistance Program (TAP) – provides assistance to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers for qualifying tree, shrub and vine losses due to natural disaster.
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Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) - provides emergency relief for losses due to feed or water shortages, disease, adverse weather, or other conditions, which are not adequately addressed by other disaster programs.
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Emergency Loan Program – available to producers with agriculture operations located in a county under a primary or contiguous Secretarial Disaster designation. These low interest loans help producers recover from production and physical losses due to adverse weather. Additionally, FSA has a variety of loan servicing options available for borrowers who are unable to make scheduled payments on their farm loan debt to FSA because of reasons beyond their control.
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Farm Storage Facility Loans (FSFLs) - provides low-interest financing so producers can build or upgrade facilities to store commodities. Loan terms vary from 3 to 12 years. Contact FSA if you’re in need of on-farm storage.
Risk Management (must have purchased coverage):
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Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) - provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters including severe storms (includes native grass for grazing).
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Federal Crop Insurance – producers with federal crop insurance should timely report losses to their crop insurance agent.
Conservation:
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Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) - provides emergency funding for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate land severely damaged by natural disasters; includes fence loss.
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Emergency Forest Restoration Program – provides funding to restore privately owned forests damaged by natural disasters.
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Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) – helps producers plan and implement conservation practices on farms, ranches, and working forests impacted by natural disasters.
Assistance for Communities
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Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program - assists local government sponsors with the cost of addressing watershed impairments or hazards such as debris removal and streambank stabilization.
To establish or retain Farm Service Agency (FSA) program eligibility, you must report prevented planting and failed acres (crops and grasses). Prevented planting acreage must be reported on form CCC-576, Notice of Loss, no later than 15 calendar days after the final planting date as established by FSA and Risk Management Agency.
For more information on these programs, contact your local USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
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Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans require applicants to have a satisfactory credit history. A credit report is requested for all FSA direct farm loan applicants. These reports are reviewed to verify outstanding debts, see if bills are paid timely and to determine the impact on cash flow.
Information on your credit report is strictly confidential and is used only as an aid in conducting FSA business.
Our farm loan staff will discuss options with you if you have an unfavorable credit report and will provide a copy of your report. If you dispute the accuracy of the information on the credit report, it is up to you to contact the issuing credit report company to resolve any errors or inaccuracies.
There are multiple ways to remedy an unfavorable credit score:
- Make sure to pay bills on time
- Setting up automatic payments or automated reminders can be an effective way to remember payment due dates.
- Pay down existing debt
- Keep your credit card balances low
- Avoid suddenly opening or closing existing credit accounts
FSA’s farm loan staff will guide you through the process, which may require you to reapply for a loan after improving or correcting your credit report.
For more information on FSA farm loan programs, contact your local USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
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Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm loans are considered progression lending. Unlike loans from a commercial lender, FSA loans are intended to be temporary in nature. Our goal is to help you graduate to commercial credit, and our farm loan staff is available to help borrowers through training and credit counseling.
The FSA team will help borrowers identify their goals to ensure financial success. FSA staff will advise borrowers on developing strategies and a plan to meet your goals and graduate to commercial credit. FSA borrowers are responsible for the success of their farming operation, but FSA staff will help in an advisory role, providing the tools necessary to help you achieve your operational goals and manage your finances.
For more information on FSA farm loan programs, local USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
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If your farm or ranch is impacted by severe storms, USDA may have opportunities for recovery assistance. Be sure to document and report any damage to your crop insurance agent and contact your local Farm Service Agency for information about disaster assistance programs.
When it comes to mitigating the effects of weather events that cause crop loss or damage to grazing lands, NRCS technical assistance can help. Conservationists can provide voluntary, individualized support to evaluate the extent of the problem, consider solutions, and develop an implementation plan. One concern might be soil erosion. If your soil needs vegetative cover, NRCS can help put together a cover crop seed mix or recommend ideas for adjusting your grazing plan.
Learn more about best management practices to consider following crop loss or grazing land damage at the full article or by contacting your local USDA Service Center for assistance.
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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 farmers.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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The Montana Wheat and Barley Variety survey was mailed in late May and data collection will continue into early July. The survey collects data on Montana winter, spring and Durum wheat varieties and barley varieties. Funded by the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, this survey generates vital information to assist breeding programs around the state and beyond select varieties for seeding with the goal of increasing farm profitability. Results of the survey are expected to be published this fall.
Once small grain harvest begins, NASS will also visit grain elevators and producers to collect grain samples for the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee.
On August 19, 2025, NASS will release the Farm Typology report from the 2022 Census of Agriculture, which provides selected Census statistics by typology categories that group farms with similar characteristics.
Thank you to Montana farmers and ranchers for taking the time to respond to NASS surveys. To find results of NASS surveys, please visit https://www.nass.usda.gov.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Rodger Ott, Regional Director, USDA NASS Mountain Regional Field Office, at 1-800-392-3202.
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Montana
USDA Farm Service Agency
PO Box 670
Bozeman, MT 59771
Phone: 406.587.6872
Fax: 855.546.0264
Web: www.fsa.usda.gov/mt
State Executive Director:
MICHAEL FOSTER
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USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
10 East Babcock Street, Room 443
Bozeman, MT 59715-4704
Phone: 406-587-6811
Fax: 855-510-7028
Web: nrcs.usda.gov/montana
Acting State Conservationist:
KYLE TACKETT
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USDA Risk Management Agency-Billings Regional Office
P.O. Box 80114
Billings, MT 59108
Phone: 406-657-6447
Fax: 406-657-6573
Email: RSOMT@usda.gov
Web:www.rma.usda.gov/rmalocal/montana
Acting Regional Director:
ALEXA TALKINGTON
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