North Carolina FSA State Office July Newsletter Updates - July 24, 2025
In This Issue:
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced today 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 will start in person at FSA county offices on July 10 and prefilled applications are being mailed to producers today, July 9. 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 will be 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.
Producers in Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, and Massachusetts will not be eligible for SDRP program payments. Instead, these states chose to cover eligible crop, tree, bush, and vine losses through separate block grants. These block grants are funded through the $220M provided for this purpose to eligible states in the American Relief Act.
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.
SDRP Stage One Payment Calculation
Stage One payments are based on the SDRP adjusted NAP or Federal crop insurance coverage level the producer purchased for the crop. The net NAP or net federal crop insurance payments (NAP or crop insurance indemnities minus administrative fees and premiums) will be subtracted from the SDRP calculated payment amount.
For Stage One, the total SDRP payment to indemnified producers will not exceed 90% of the loss and an SDRP payment factor of 35% will be applied to all Stage One payments. If additional SDRP funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.
Future Insurance Coverage Requirements
All producers who receive SDRP payments are required to purchase federal crop insurance or NAP coverage for the next two available crop years at the 60% coverage level or higher. Producers who fail to purchase crop for the next two available crop years will be required to refund the SDRP payment, plus interest, to USDA.
SDRP Stage 2
FSA will announce additional SDRP assistance for uncovered losses, including non-indemnified shallow losses and quality losses and how to apply later this fall.
Learn more by visiting fsa.usda.gov/sdrp.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA and allow grassroots input and local administration of federal farm programs.
Committees are comprised of locally elected agricultural producers responsible for the fair and equitable administration of FSA farm programs in their counties. Committee members are accountable to the Secretary of Agriculture. If elected, members become part of a local decision-making and farm program delivery process.
A county committee is composed of 3 to 11 elected members from Local Administrative Areas (LAA). Each member serves a three-year term. To be eligible for nomination and hold office as a committee member or alternate, a person must fulfill each of the following requirements:
1. Be eligible to vote in an FSA county committee election.
2. Reside in the LAA that is up for election.
3. Must not have been:
a. Removed or disqualified from:
i. FSA county committee membership or alternate membership, or
ii. FSA employment.
b. Removed for cause from any public office or have been convicted of fraud, larceny, embezzlement or any other felony.
c. Dishonorably discharged from any branch of the armed services.
*The following requirements must be met for a person to be eligible to vote in the county committee elections:
• Be of legal voting age or, if not of legal voting age, supervise and conduct the farming operation of an entire farm.
• Have an interest in a farm or ranch as either:
o an individual who meets one or more of the following:
▪ Is eligible and capable to vote in one’s own right.
▪ Is a partner of a general partnership.
▪ Is a member of a joint venture.
▪ Is an authorized representative of a legal entity.
• Participates or cooperates in any FSA program that is provided by law. A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation(s) but may not have applied or received FSA program benefits.
All nomination forms for the 2025 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDA Service Center by Aug. 1, 2025. For more information on FSA county committee elections, including fact sheets, nomination forms and FAQs, visit fsa.usda.gov/elections.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds foreign investors with an interest in agricultural land in the United States that they are required to report their land holdings and transactions to USDA.
The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) requires foreign investors who buy, sell or hold an interest in U.S. agricultural land to report their holdings and transactions to the USDA. Foreign investors must file AFIDA Report Form FSA-153 with the FSA county office in the county where the land is located. Large or complex
filings may be handled by AFIDA headquarters staff in Washington, D.C.
According to CFR Title 7 Part 781, any foreign person who holds an interest in U.S. agricultural land is required to report their holdings no later than 90 days after the date of the transaction.
Foreign investors should report holdings of agricultural land totaling 10 acres or more used for farming, ranching or timber production, and leaseholds on agricultural land of 10 or more years. Tracts totaling 10 acres or less in the aggregate, and which produce annual gross receipts in excess of $1,000 from the sale of farm, ranch, forestry or timber products, must also be reported. AFIDA reports are also required when there are changes in land use, such as from agricultural to nonagricultural use. Foreign investors must also file a report when there is a change in the status of ownership.
The information from AFIDA reports is used to prepare an annual report to Congress. These annual reports to Congress, as well as more information, are available on the FSA AFIDA webpage.
Assistance in completing the FSA-153 report may be obtained from the local FSA office. For more information regarding AFIDA or FSA programs, contact the local FSA office at phone or visit farmers.gov
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) celebrated 25 years of the agency’s popular Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL) this May. For a quarter century, family-owned agricultural operations have received low-interest financing through the program to enhance or expand their operations and manage marketing of the commodities they produce by building or upgrading permanent and portable storage facilities and purchasing needed handling equipment.
The FSFL program was created in May 2000 to address existing on-farm grain storage needs. Since the program’s inception, more than 40,000 loans have been issued for on-farm storage, increasing storage capacity by one billion bushels. While many producers primarily associate the program with grain storage, over the past 25 years the eligible storage has expanded to include a wide variety of facilities and related equipment - new or used and permanent or portable - including hay barns,
bulk tanks, and facilities for cold storage. Drying, handling and storage equipment is also eligible, including skid steers and storage and handling trucks.
Eligibility
Eligible commodities for storage loans include grains, oilseeds, peanuts, pulse crops, hay, hemp, honey, renewable biomass commodities, fruits and vegetables, floriculture, hops, seed cotton, wool, maple sap, maple syrup, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, eggs, unprocessed meat and poultry, rye and aquaculture. Most recently, controlled atmosphere storage was added as an eligible facility and bison meat has been also added to the list of eligible commodities.
FSFL is an excellent financing program to address on-farm storage and handling needs for small and mid-sized farms, and for new farmers. Loan terms vary from three to 12 years. The maximum loan amount for storage facilities is $500,000. The maximum loan amount for storage and handling trucks is $100,000.
In 2016, FSA introduced a new storage loan category, the microloan, for loans with an aggregate balance up to $50,000. Microloans offer a 5% down payment requirement, compared to a 15% down payment for a regular FSFL, and microloans waive the regular three-year production history requirement.
How to apply
Loan applications should be filed in the administrative FSA county office that maintains a producer’s farm records. Producers can contact their FSA County Office to make an appointment. Beginning farmers who haven’t worked with FSA can visit farmers.gov/your-business/beginning-farmers for more information or view the New Farmers Fact Sheet.
For more information, visit the FSFL webpage, view the fact sheet and our Ask the Expert Blog, or contact your FSA County Office.
Did you know that, as a customer in any USDA service center, employees are required, per federal law and USDA regulations, to provide you with a computer-generated receipt at the end of your visit? This Receipt for Service details the type of service you requested, the service and response provided by the staff, and the date and time of your visit.
The 2014 Farm Bill designated that FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Rural Development (RD) employees are statutorily required to provide producers a receipt when a current or prospective producer or landowner interacts or engages with the Agency regarding a USDA benefit or service.
On behalf of our customers, FSA employees are required to enter receipts timely and create only one receipt per customer per visit, regardless of the number of employee interactions a customer may encounter in a single visit. A single receipt will be generated that provides a summary of the customer’s visit on behalf of the other employees who also met with the customer on the same day. Employees must also ensure that all services rendered are properly reflected in that receipt.
Issuing a receipt is required by our offices. If you do not receive a receipt, please be sure to request one. For more information, FSA’s Receipt for Service handbook is now available online.
Don’t leave the office without your receipt!
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 local USDA Service Center or
visit fsa.usda.gov.
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FSA in North Carolina
4405 Bland Road
Suite 160
Raleigh, NC 27609
Phone: 919-875-4800
Service Center Locator
Farm Service Agency
State Executive Director - Ronald Garrett
Deputy State Executive Director - Tracie Y Jones
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