View as a webpage / Share

Wisconsin Farm Service Agency-  July 2025

In This Issue:

• Message from the State Executive Director
• Dates to Remember
• Current Farm Loan Interest Rates
• Nominations Now Open for Farmers and Ranchers to Serve on USDA Farm Service Agency County Committees
• USDA Reminds Wisconsin Producers to File Crop Acreage Reports
• Prevented Planting Deadline Extended for 2025 Spring Seeded Crops
• Applying for Youth Loans
• USDA to Provide $1 Billion to Livestock Producers Impacted by Drought or Wildfire in 2023 and 2024

Message from the State Executive Director

Dates to Remember

July 15, 2025: Acreage Reporting deadline for Spring-seeded crops, Beans (dark red kidney, light red kidney), hemp, perennial forage, pasture, rangeland, forage seeding, and CRP acreage.

July 19, 2025: Get Started with Stewardship Field Day at the Sauk County Farm. 

August 1, 2025: County Committee Elections Nominations due.

August 15, 2025: Acreage Reporting deadline for Beans (all other types not listed under the July 15^th deadline), Cabbage, Cucumbers

August 15, 2025: Deadline to submit applications for the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP)

Current Farm Loan Interest Rates

Current loan rates as of July 1, 2025.
Please visit the Farm Loan Program webpage for more information.

Farm Loan Interest Rates:

Farm Storage Facility Loans (FSFL):

Nominations Now Open for Farmers and Ranchers to Serve on USDA Farm Service Agency County Committees

Nominations are now being accepted for farmers and ranchers to serve on local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees. These committees make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2025 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2025.     

Elections for committee members will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA). LAAs are elective areas for FSA committees in a single county or multi-county jurisdiction and may include LAAs that are focused on an urban or suburban area.   

Producers interested in serving on the FSA county committee can locate their LAA through a geographic information system locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections and determine if their LAA is up for election by contacting their local FSA office.   

Agricultural producers may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee if they:  

• Participate or cooperate in a USDA program. 
• Reside in the LAA that is up for election this year.   

A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or received program benefits.    

Individuals may nominate themselves or others and qualifying organizations may also nominate candidates. USDA encourages all eligible producers to nominate, vote and hold office.   

Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the agriculture community serve on FSA county committees. The committees are made up of three to 11 members who serve three-year terms. Committee members play a key role in how FSA delivers disaster recovery, conservation, commodity and price support programs, as well as making decisions on county office employment and other agricultural issues.  

More Information     

Producers should contact their local FSA office today to register and find out how to get involved in their county’s election, including if their LAA is up for election this year. To be considered, a producer must be registered and sign an FSA-669A nomination form. This form and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at fsa.usda.gov/elections.       

All nomination forms for the 2025 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDA Service Center by the Aug.1, 2025, deadline. Election ballots will be mailed to eligible voters in November 2025.  

USDA Reminds Wisconsin Producers to File Crop Acreage Reports

After spring planting is complete, agricultural producers in Wisconsin should make an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office to complete crop acreage reports before the applicable deadline.

How to File a Report

A crop acreage report documents a crop grown on a farm or ranch, its intended use and location.  Producers should file an accurate crop acreage report for all crops and land uses, including failed acreage and prevented planted acreage before the applicable deadline.

To file a crop acreage report, producers need to provide: 

• Crop and crop type or variety
• Intended crop use
• Number of crop acres
• Map with approximate crop boundaries
• Planting date(s)
• Planting pattern, when applicable
• Producer share(s)
• Irrigation practice(s)
• Acreage prevented from planting, when applicable
• Other required information

 Acreage Reporting Details  

The following exceptions apply to acreage reporting dates:  

• If the crop has not been planted by the acreage reporting deadline, then the acreage must be reported no later than 15 calendar days after planting is completed.  
• If a producer acquires additional acreage after the acreage reporting deadline, then the acreage must be reported no later than 30 calendar days after purchase or acquiring the lease. Appropriate documentation must be provided to the county office.  

Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy holders should note that the acreage reporting date for NAP-covered crops is the acreage reporting date or 15 calendar days before grazing or crop harvesting begins, whichever is earlier.  

Producers with perennial forage crops should check with their local FSA office to see if their crops are eligible for continuous certification, which rolls the certified acreage forward each year until a change is made.  

Farmers.gov Portal 

Producers can access their FSA farm records, maps, and common land units through the farmers.gov customer portal. The portal allows producers to export field boundaries as shapefiles and import and view other shapefiles, such as precision agriculture boundaries within farm records mapping. Producers can view, print and label their maps for acreage reporting purposes. A login.gov account that is linked to a USDA customer record is required to use the portal.   

Producers can visit farmers.gov/account to learn more about creating an account. Producers who have the authority to act on behalf of another customer as a grantee via an FSA-211 Power of Attorney form, Business Partner Signature Authority or as a member of a business can now access information for the business in the farmers.gov portal.   

Electronic Geospatial Acreage Reporting  

Acreage reports using precision agriculture planting boundaries can be filed electronically with an approved insurance provider or an authorized third-party provider, who will then share the file with FSA staff. Producers should notify their local FSA office if they submitted an electronic geospatial acreage report containing precision planting boundaries that they want to use as part of their FSA acreage report.   

More Information  

For more information, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center.

Prevented Planting Deadline Extended for 2025 Spring Seeded Crops

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. 

Applying for Youth Loans

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) makes loans to youth to establish and operate agricultural income-producing projects in connection with 4-H clubs, FFA and other agricultural groups. Projects must be planned and operated with the help of the organization advisor, produce sufficient income to repay the loan and provide the youth with practical business and educational experience. The maximum loan amount is $10,000.

Youth Loan Eligibility Requirements:

• Be a citizen of the United States (which includes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) or a legal resident alien
• Be 10 years to 20 years of age
• Comply with FSA’s general eligibility requirements
• Conduct a modest income-producing project in a supervised program of work as outlined above
• Demonstrate capability of planning, managing and operating the project under guidance and assistance from a project advisor. The project supervisor must recommend the youth loan applicant, along with providing adequate supervision.

USDA to Provide $1 Billion to Livestock Producers Impacted by Drought or Wildfire in 2023 and 2024

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the release of Congressionally mandated Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) payments to cover grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire events in 2023 and/or 2024.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is leveraging existing Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) data to streamline payment calculations and expedite relief. Emergency relief payments are automatically issued for producers who have an approved LFP application on file for 2023 and/or 2024. 

The American Relief Act, 2025, provided funds for emergency relief payments. This program is the first of two programs authorized to assist with eligible losses suffered by livestock producers. FSA will announce additional ELRP assistance for other losses authorized by the Act, including flooding, later this summer.  

ELRP Eligibility   

ELRP payment eligibility requires livestock producers to have suffered grazing losses in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks or a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity during 2023, 2024 or both calendar years, and have applied and been approved for LFP.   

Additionally, producers whose permitted grazing on federally managed lands was reduced due to wildfire are also eligible for ELRP, if they applied and were approved for LFP in 2023, 2024 or both calendar years. 

To streamline and simplify the delivery of ELRP benefits, producers are not required to submit an application for payment; however, they must have the following forms on file with FSA:    

• CCC-853, Livestock Forage Disaster Program Application    
• Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet.    
• Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual or legal entity.     
• Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities (if applicable).     
• Form FSA-510, Request for an Exception to the $125,000 Payment Limitation for Certain Programs (if applicable). This form is required to be on file for both 2023 and 2024 to be eligible for the payment limitation exception.  
• SF-3881, Direct Deposit.  
• AD-1026, Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification.  

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, can contact their local FSA county office.    

ELRP Payment Calculation   

To expedite payments to eligible livestock producers, determine eligibility, and calculate an ELRP payment, FSA uses livestock inventories and drought-affected forage acreage or restricted animal units and grazing days due to wildfire already reported by the producer on the CCC-853, Livestock Forage Disaster Program Application form, for 2023, 2024 or both calendar years.       

ELRP payments will be equal to the eligible livestock producer’s gross LFP calculated payment for the calendar year multiplied by an ELRP 2023 or 2024 payment factor to determine the total gross ELRP payments for 2023 and/or 2024. The initial payment factor for 2023 and 2024 ELRP payments is 35%.  If additional funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.  

Supplemental Disaster Assistance Timeline  

USDA is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act, 2025. On May 7, we launched our 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant rollout timeline can be tracked. The page is updated regularly and accessible through fsa.usda.gov.  

The Act also authorized $10 billion in economic loss assistance to producers of covered commodities based on 2024 planted and prevented planted acres. To date, USDA has delivered more than $7.7 billion to producers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP). The ECAP deadline is Aug. 15, 2025. Contact your local FSA county office for information. 

To learn more visit the ELRP website. 

Top of page