Pennsylvania FSA Update - August 2025
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seems to have really flown by. We’ve certainly had a lot of challenges this year from excessive moisture at planting, to excessive heat and humidity at pollination, and now much of the state is experiencing extremely dry conditions as we look towards harvest. I encourage all producers to connect with your local elected County Committee members and your county FSA staff to provide an update on local crop conditions. Doing so helps us to deliver information to Washington DC on the weather-related impacts producers are facing with their crops this year. As harvest season begins, I encourage everyone to be safe and mindful of vehicles when traveling the roads with equipment. Everyone is in a hurry and that can very easily lead to accidents. Thank you for all that you do to feed and fuel America.
Sincerely,
Rick Ebert
State Executive Director
Pennsylvania Farm Service Agency
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In this Ask the Expert, Tina Mellinger answers questions about Farm Service Agency (FSA) Youth Loans. Tina is a Farm Loan Manager in Ohio and has worked for FSA for 37 years. Her FSA farm loan team makes an average of around 50 loans each year, with around five of those being Youth Loans. Her entire career has been centered around loan-making. At the beginning of her career, she worked for Rural Development making home loans.
Tina grew up on a 50-cow dairy farm in southeastern Ohio. She earned an animal science and ag education degree from the Ohio State University.
To read the full blog, visit farmers.gov/blog/ask-expert-qa-on-youth-loans-with-tina-mellinger.
Are you interested in working with USDA to start or grow your farm, ranch, or private forest operation, but don’t know where to start?
Whether you’re looking to access capital or disaster assistance through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) or address natural resource concerns on your land with assistance from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a great place to start is farmers.gov.
Farmers.gov is a one-stop shop for information about the assistance available from FSA and NRCS. The site also offers many easy-to-use tools for farmers, ranchers, and private forestland owners, whether you are reaching out for the first time or are a long-term customer with a years-long relationship with USDA.
With a farmers.gov account you can:
- Complete an AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet, prior to your first meeting with FSA and NRCS.
- View farm loan payments history from FSA.
- View cost share assistance received and anticipated from NRCS conservation programs.
- Request conservation assistance from NRCS as well as view and track your conservation plans, practices, and contracts.
- View, print, and export detailed farm records and farm/tract maps for the current year, which are particularly useful when fulfilling acreage reporting requirements.
- Print FSA-156 EZ, Abbreviated Farm Record and your Producer Farm Data Report for the current year.
- Pay FSA debt using the “Make an FSA Payment” feature
- Apply for a farm loan online, view information on your existing loans, and make USDA direct farm loan payments using the Pay My Loan feature.
Learn how to create a farmers.gov account today!
There are options for Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan customers during financial stress. If you are a borrower who is unable to make payments on a loan, contact your local FSA Farm Loan Manager to learn about your options.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), in partnership with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is reaching out to farmers, ranchers and agricultural landowners to gather in-depth information about the conservation practices they use.
Nearly 23,000 operators nationwide will receive the 2025 Conservation Effects Assessment Project survey. Data obtained will support the third set of national and regional cropland assessments delivered by USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), a multi-agency effort led by NRCS to quantify the effects of conservation practices across the nation’s working lands.
Local NASS representatives will visit farmers and agricultural landowners in August and September of 2025 to determine if their operations and properties meet the criteria to be considered eligible candidates for the survey. Eligible farmers and landowners may be contacted between November 2025 and March 2026 and asked to participate in the survey. Typical questions will discuss farm production practices; chemical, fertilizer, and manure applications; tillage; irrigation use; and installed conservation practices. NASS will provide survey data to NRCS, the agency tasked with publishing findings.
CEAP Cropland Assessments quantify the environmental outcomes associated with implementation and installation of conservation practices on agricultural lands. Findings are used to guide conservation program development and support agricultural producers and partners in making informed management decisions backed by data and science.
Specifically, CEAP results may help:
- Evaluate the resources farmers may need in the future to protect soil, water, and habitat.
- Shed light on techniques farmers use to conserve healthy environments.
- Improve and strengthen technical and financial programs that help landowners plan and install conservation practices on agricultural land.
- Support the conservation programs that can help producers’ profits while also protecting natural resources.
The CEAP survey is conducted through a cooperative agreement between NRCS and NASS. NRCS will couple survey results with modeling to report on trends in cropland conservation – and associated outcomes – from 2024 through 2026.
Information provided to NASS and analyzed by NRCS is kept confidential, as required by federal law. The agencies only publish data in aggregate form, ensuring that no individual respondent or operation can be identified.
The data from this survey will be published as a report on the CEAP Cropland Assessments webpage at nrcs.usda.gov/ceap/croplands.. If you have questions about the survey, please contact us at 888-424-7828 or visit the NASS Website.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced it is implementing the Quality Loss (QL) option for additional crop insurance programs for the 2026 and succeeding crop years. QL will be available for the alfalfa seed, dry peas, dry beans, grass seed and triticale crop insurance programs.
RMA developed the QL option in response to the 2018 Farm Bill requirement to carry out research and development for an alternative method for adjusting quality losses that will not impact Actual Production History (APH). While initially created to improve coverage options for row crop producers, the option was expanded to perennial crop programs in the 2024 crop year.
Producers must elect QL by the sales closing date. The QL option may apply if a notice of loss is filed, regardless of whether an indemnity is received for that crop year. When elected, QL allows a producer to replace the post-quality adjusted production in their APH database with the pre-quality adjusted production, thereby increasing the actual yields for individual crop years.
Quality adjustment to production will be based on the applicable quality statements contained in the Special Provisions, or on applicable quality requirements allowed by the Crop Provisions or endorsements. The QL option is not available for policies insured under the Catastrophic Risk Protection Endorsement.
Contact a crop insurance agent to see how Federal Crop Insurance can meet the specific needs of your operation. Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available online at the RMA Agent Locator. Producers can learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at rma.usda.gov or by contacting their RMA Regional Office. RMA’s Basics for Beginners provides information for those new to crop insurance.
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a program administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to conserve farmland for future generations while providing habitat for wildlife, reducing soil erosion, and improving water quality. Regular maintenance on CRP acres is needed to ensure the acreage continues to provide conservation benefits and remains in compliance with the CRP contract.
Regular Maintenance
Producers with CRP contracts are required to control all weeds, insects, pests, and other undesirable species to the extent necessary to ensure that the approved conservation cover is adequately protected and to ensure there is no adverse impact on surrounding land. Mowing is one of the allowable practices for weed control, but mowing for aesthetic purposes is never permitted. The Conservation Plan states the required weed control methods for each site.
Once a stand has been certified as fully established, participants are required to maintain plant diversity and stand density according to the Conservation Plan and offer (CRP-2) for the life of the contract. Stands that do not meet practice specific plant diversity or density requirements may be considered non-compliant. Refer to your conservation plan or contact FSA if you have any questions or concerns about the vegetative cover requirements.
Maintenance activities cannot occur during the primary nesting season for birds without written prior approval from the local county office. The primary nesting season in Pennsylvania is April 1st through July 31st.
Mid-Contract Management
Regular maintenance for weed and pest control is separate from the Mid-Contract Management (MCM) requirement. MCM ensures plant diversity and wildlife benefits while ensuring protection of the soil and water resources. Such activities are site-specific and are for the purpose of enhancing the approved cover.
MCM must be completed between years four and six of a 10-year contract and between years seven and nine of a 15-year contract. The Conservation Plan will state what year MCM must take place.
Noncompliance with Maintenance Requirements
Failure to adequately maintain the stand may result in noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the CRP contract. Noncompliance can result in adverse actions up to and including termination of the CRP contract. Contracts that are out of compliance are ineligible to re-enroll, unless the stand is brought back into compliance prior to the enrollment deadline.
For general information about CRP, visit the Conservation Reserve Program webpage. For information about specific contracts, reach out to the local FSA office.
Each state has a dedicated Beginning Farmer and Rancher (BFR) team to help producers with less than 10 years’ experience learn about available programs and services. Michael Sherman is the State Coordinator. He is a Outreach Specialist with the Farm Service Agency. Michael is the team lead and will answer questions from farmers and ranchers. If you are considering starting a farm operation he can also refer you to external resources and organizations to help you learn more about business planning, starting a farm, and getting USDA program ready. He can be reached at michael.sherman@usda.gov or 717-645-3037.
The other members of the team are Champions. They help Michael respond to questions, provide support to county offices and plan outreach events specifically for beginning farmers and ranchers. Your State Champions are: Janette Lesher a Program Specialist with NRCS, Dethon Kistler a Loan Specialist with Rural Development, and Tonya Harris a Risk Management Specialist with RMA.
The new customer kiosks from USDA’s Farm Service Agency are available at every county office nationwide. These kiosks help to streamline your visit to your local county office and easily access a variety of features such as signing FSA documents, utilizing the Loan Assistance Tool, browsing USDA programs, accessing the internet, accessing necessary personal information, and signing up for a Login.gov account, which provides access to farmers.gov level two features and other USDA and U.S. Government web resources. Future kiosk functionality enhancements include a customer check-in application, self-service option for FSA program applications and documents, financial inquiries and more.
Learn more about how FSA is modernizing our customer experience here.
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