Nebraska FSA and NRCS State Office
Electronic Newsletter - July 24, 2025
In This Issue:
I am nearing the end of my third month as your FSA State Executive Director, and I can tell you it already has been a rewarding experience to visit with staff in our County FSA offices across the state. They are busy working on your behalf, and it has been nothing short of a whirlwind for them recently as deadlines approach and new programs are launched.
Here is a summary of key things to which I hope you, our farmer and rancher customers, are tracking:
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Roll out of the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) – FSA offices are now taking applications for SDRP, Stage 1, which is designed to provide financial relief to producers with losses of revenue, quality or production of crops due to certain weather-related events in 2023 and/or 2024. Prefilled applications were mailed to producers of indemnified crops as FSA is working hard to streamline these types of programs. No application deadline has been established yet. SDRP Stage 2 for producers of uncovered crops or shallow losses will be announced at a later date. See the story below for more details.
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Announcement of the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (Grassland CRP) application period – FSA offices are accepting Grassland CRP offers now through Aug. 8, 2025. Grassland CRP helps landowners and operators protect grassland, including range and pasture, while maintaining the areas as grazing land. See the story below for more details.
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FSA County Committee Election Nomination Period - We are nearing the Aug. 1 deadline for those interested in serving on their FSA County Committee to turn in their nomination forms. County committee members are local farmers and ranchers elected by their peers to serve in a role that advises the activities of their county FSA office. It’s a great way to give back to your local agricultural community. If you are interested in learning more, call your county FSA office and ask for your county executive director.
As I close out this month’s column, I want to thank all of our farmer and rancher customers for your assistance with spring crop acreage certification, which had a deadline of July 15. It’s a big lift for us, and we couldn’t do it without your cooperation.
That’s all for this month. Talk to you in August.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that agricultural producers and private landowners can now enroll in the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (Grassland CRP). The sign-up began July 14 and runs through Aug. 8, 2025. Grassland CRP, offered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), is a voluntary working lands conservation program that enables participants to conserve grasslands while also continuing most grazing and haying practices.
Grassland CRP emphasizes support for grazing operations, plant and animal biodiversity, and grasslands and land with shrubs and forbs under the greatest threat of conversion.
Landowners and producers interested in Grassland CRP should contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more or apply for the program before the Aug. 8 deadline. For more information, visit fsa.usda.gov.
Read the full news release here.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins has announced that agricultural producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 can now apply for $16 billion in assistance through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP).
To expedite the implementation of SDRP, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is delivering assistance in two stages. This first stage is open to producers with eligible crop losses that received assistance under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program during 2023 and 2024. Stage One sign up started at FSA county offices on July 10 and prefilled applications were mailed to producers. SDRP Stage Two signups for eligible shallow or uncovered losses will begin in early fall.
SDRP Stage One
FSA is launching a streamlined, pre-filled application process for eligible crop, tree, and vine losses by leveraging existing Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) indemnified loss data. The pre-filled applications were mailed on July 9, 2025.
Eligibility
Eligible losses must be the result of natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2023 and/or 2024. These disasters include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, and related conditions.
To qualify for drought related losses, the loss must have occurred in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks, D3 (extreme drought), or greater intensity level during the applicable calendar year.
How to Apply
To apply for SDRP, producers must submit the FSA-526, Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) Stage One Application, in addition to having other forms on file with FSA.
To learn more about this program, visit the website or read the full news release.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting nominations for county committee members and encourages all farmers, ranchers, and FSA program participants to take part in the County Committee election nomination process. County committee members 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 will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for members. LAAs are elective areas for FSA committees in a single county or multi-county jurisdiction. Customers can identify which LAA they or their farming or ranching operation is in by using the GIS locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections.
Agricultural producers who participate or cooperate in a USDA program and reside in the LAA that is up for election this year, may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee. 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 minority producers, women, and beginning farmers or ranchers to nominate, vote and hold office.
Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the agricultural community serve on FSA county committees. The committees are made up of 3 to 11 members who serve three-year terms. Committee members are vital to how FSA carries out disaster programs, as well as conservation, commodity and price support programs, county office employment and other agricultural issues.
For more information on FSA county committee elections, including fact sheets, nomination forms and FAQs, visit fsa.usda.gov/elections.
The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides assistance to you for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather, disease and attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law. This may include losses due to excessive heat.
For disease losses, FSA county committees can accept veterinarian certifications that livestock deaths were directly related to adverse weather and unpreventable through good animal husbandry and management.
For 2025 livestock losses, you must file a notice of loss, provide the following supporting documentation, and application for payment to your local FSA office by March 2, 2026.
- Proof of death documentation
- Copy of grower’s contracts
- Proof of normal mortality documentation
- Livestock beginning inventory documentation
USDA has established normal mortality rates for each type and weight range of eligible livestock, i.e. Adult Beef Cow = 1.5% and Non-Adult Beef Cattle = 5%. These established percentages reflect losses that are considered expected or typical under “normal” conditions.
For more information, contact your county FSA office or visit fsa.usda.gov.
When changes in farm ownership or operation take place, a farm reconstitution may be necessary. The reconstitution — or recon — is the process of combining or dividing farms or tracts of land based on the farming operation, for purposes of FSA records and program administration.
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 County USDA Service Center.
Several Nebraska counties have received primary or contiguous disaster designations in calendar year 2025 due to drought, using the Secretarial Disaster Designation process. This includes several counties receiving such designation on July 9, 2025. Under the designations, if you have operations in any primary or contiguous county, you are eligible to apply for low interest emergency loans.
Emergency loans help you recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding and other natural disasters or quarantine.
You have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for emergency loan assistance. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. You can borrow up to 100 percent of actual production or physical losses, to a maximum amount of $500,000.
To find out whether your county has received a Secretarial Disaster Designation, please visit the disaster designation information page at fsa.usda.gov. A map of designations for drought can be found here.
For more information about emergency loans, contact your county USDA Service Center.
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 your County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
Irrigation management is a vital part of successful farming, particularly in areas where rainfall is inconsistent or insufficient to meet crop needs. At its core, it is the process of applying the right amount of water at the right time and the right application rate to achieve optimal crop production all while conserving water, energy and protecting soil and water quality. When done properly, this practice supports plant health, reduces input costs and promotes long-term sustainability of agricultural operations.
For farmers, effective irrigation management offers a wide range of benefits. First and foremost, it improves water use efficiency. By tailoring water applications to the specific needs of the crops, taking into account weather conditions, soil types and field variability, farmers can avoid overwatering or underwatering. This leads to healthier crops, reduced disease pressure and ultimately higher yields. Additionally, managing irrigation wisely helps reduce labor costs and energy usage, especially for systems that rely on pumps. Less water applied means less energy needed, which can result in significant cost savings.
Beyond economic gains, good irrigation practices also play an important role in environmental stewardship. Over-irrigation can lead to surface water runoff, which may carry field nutrients, pesticides and sediments into nearby waterbodies. These pollutants can have negative impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystems. By applying water more efficiently, farmers help protect these natural resources and support the long-term health of the land.
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offers valuable support for farmers looking to improve their irrigation systems and water management practices. Through technical and financial assistance, NRCS works directly with producers to assess their current systems and identify opportunities for improvement. Conservation practices like irrigation water management (practice 449), irrigation pipeline (practice 430), micro irrigation (practice 441) and sprinkler system (practice 442) can be personalized to each operation’s needs.
When a farmer partners with NRCS, the process begins with a conservation plan that evaluates soil, water, crops and existing infrastructure. From there, NRCS conservationists can recommend practical steps to optimize irrigation efficiency. These might include adjusting application schedules or pressures, upgrading to a more efficient system or installing tools to monitor soil moisture and weather conditions. In many cases, financial assistance is available through programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewards Program (CSP), making it more affordable for producers to invest in upgrades that benefit both their bottom line and the environment.
Ultimately, irrigation water management is about making the most out of every drop. As weather patterns become more unpredictable and water resources face increasing environmental pressures, it is now more important than ever for farmers to take a thoughtful, proactive approach to how they water their crops. With the support of NRCS, producers can build more resilient operations while increasing their productivity and protecting their valuable farmland.
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Producers are encouraged to call their local NRCS office to schedule an appointment to ensure maximum use of their time and to make sure NRCS staff is available to tend to their important business needs. Please call your local NRCS office ahead to set an appointment and to discuss any records or documentation that might be needed during your appointment. To find your local NRCS office, visit: farmers.gov/service-center-locator.
Aug. 1, 2025 – FSA deadline for producers to request a farm transfer or a farm reconstitution
Aug. 1, 2025 – FSA deadline for producers to file nomination form for FSA County Committee candidacy
Aug. 8, 2025 – FSA deadline for producers to submit an offer for Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (Grassland CRP)
Aug. 15, 2025 – FSA deadline for producers to apply for the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP)
Sept. 1, 2025 – USDA Service Centers closed for federal holiday
***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%
Farm Operating – Limited Resource: 5%
Farm Operating – Microloan: 5%
Farm Ownership: 5.875%
Farm Ownership – Limited Resource: 5%
Farm Ownership - Joint Financing: 3.875%
Farm Ownership - Down Payment: 1.875%
Emergency - Actual Loss: 3.75%
FARM STORAGE FACILITY LOAN
3-year term: 3.875%
5-year term: 4%
7-year term: 4.25%
10-year term: 4.5%
12-year term: 4.625%
MARKETING ASSISTANCE
Commodity Loan: 5.125%
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Nebraska FSA and NRCS State Office
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Farm Service Agency
1121 Lincoln Mall Suite 330
Lincoln, NE 68508
Phone: (402) 437-5581
Fax: (844) 930-0237
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Natural Resources
Conservation Service
1121 Lincoln Mall Suite 360
Lincoln, NE 68508
Phone: (402) 437-5300
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Hilary Maricle, FSA
State Executive Director
hilary.maricle@usda.gov
FSA State Office
Tim Divis, Deputy SED
Cathy Anderson, Product. & Compliance
Pat Lechner, Price Support & Conserv.
Mark Wilke, Farm Loans
Nick Elting, Administrative Officer
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Robert Lawson, NRCS
State Conservationist
robert.lawson@usda.gov
FSA State Committee
Hilary Maricle, Acting STC
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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.
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