Woodruff County USDA News Bulletin - June 8, 2026
In This Issue:
Farm Service Agency Virtual Outreach Meetings 2026
To better serve you this year we are offering two identical virtual WEBINAR sessions. Pick your session or Join us for one or both
Thursday, August 6th 10:00 – 11:00 Click Here to join the virtual meeting. Listen from your phone – for audio only call 202-650-0123 enter passcode 602984553#
Thursday, September 3rd 10:00 – 11:00 Click Here to join the virtual meeting. Listen from your phone – for audio only call 202-650-0123 enter passcode 717498521#
Topics: FSA farming update with Arkansas Farm Service Agency State Director William Davis. FSA Farm Loan information with Farm Loan Managers Jason Rauls and Nitosha Berry, Conservation Reserve Program information with Lorri McGee, FSA CED along with special speakers Bubba Groves with Arkansas Game and Fish and Robert Floyd with Arkansas Dept. of Agriculture Forestry Division sharing information on CRP Practices for Wildlife Habitat. Livestock Forage Program overview with Patrick Hicks, FSA CED and COC Election information with Zachary Beaver, FSA CED.
Maps are now available at the Woodruff County FSA Office for acreage reporting purposes. If you wish to receive your maps by e-mail, please call our office at 870-347-2593 ext. 2 and your maps can be emailed to you! Please see the following acreage reporting deadlines for Woodruff County:
- July 15, 2026: Spring-seeded Crops
- NAP crop deadlines vary, please call our office for specific deadlines on reporting those crops.
In order to maintain program eligibility and benefits, you must file timely acreage reports. Failure to file an acreage report by the crop acreage reporting deadline may cause ineligibility for future program benefits. FSA will not accept acreage reports provided more than a year after the acreage reporting deadline. Producers are encouraged to file their acreage reports as soon as planting is completed. Give us a call if you have finished planting!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)is maximizing disaster assistance support for producers by issuing a second Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) payment to eligible producers who have approved program applications for losses due to natural disasters in calendar years 2023 and 2024.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has already provided $6.7 billion in SDRP payments to eligible producers. Additionally, USDA is extending the program deadline to give producers and FSA more time to address any program application changes that could impact payments. The original April 30 deadline has been extended to Aug. 12, 2026, for SDRP Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Initial SDRP payments were factored at 35%, but after further analysis, USDA is increasing the payment factor to 70%, meaning producers with approved applications will receive an additional 35% of their calculated SDRP payment. Future SDRP payments will also be made using a 70% payment factor.
SDRP Stage 1
The first stage, announced in July 2025, remains available to producers who received an indemnity under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for eligible crop losses due to qualifying 2023 and 2024 natural disaster events.
SDRP Stage 2
Stage 2 of SDRP covers eligible crop, tree, bush and vine losses that were not covered under Stage One program provisions, including non-indemnified (shallow loss), uncovered and quality losses.
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.
FSA is establishing block grants with Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, and Massachusetts that cover crop losses; therefore, producers with losses on land physically located in these states are not eligible for SDRP program payments.
For more information on SDRP, please visit fsa.usda.gov/sdrp
USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds you to report prevented planted and failed acres in order to establish or retain FSA program eligibility for some programs.
You should report crop acreage you intended to plant, but due to natural disaster, were prevented from planting. 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 the Risk Management Agency (RMA).
Additionally, if you have failed acres, you should also use form CCC-576, Notice of Loss, to report failed acres.
For hand-harvested crops and certain perishables, you must notify FSA of damage or loss through the administrative county office within 72 hours of the date of damage or loss first becomes apparent. This notification can be provided by filing a CCC-576, email, fax or phone. If you notify the County Office by any method other than by filing the CCC-576, you are still required to file a CCC-576, Notice of Loss, within the required 15 calendar days.
For losses on crops covered by the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), you must file a Notice of Loss within 15 days of the occurrence of the disaster or when losses become apparent. You must timely file a Notice of Loss for failed acres on all crops including grasses.
To file a Notice of Loss, contact your Woodruff County USDA Service Center at 870-347-2593 ext 2 or visit www.fsa.usda.gov.
You have a lot at stake in making sure your crop insurance acreage reporting is accurate and on time. If you fail to report on time, you may not be protected. If you report too much acreage, you may pay too much premium. If you report too little acreage, you may recover less when you file a claim.
Crop insurance agents often say that mistakes in acreage reporting are the easiest way for producers to have an unsatisfactory experience with crop insurance. Don’t depend on your agent to do this important job for you. Your signature on the bottom of the acreage reporting form makes it, legally, your responsibility. Double-check it for yourself.
Remember - acreage reporting is your responsibility. Doing it right will save you money. Always get a copy of your report immediately after signing and filing it with your agent and keep it with your records. Remember, it is your responsibility to report crop damage to your agent within 72 hours of discovery. Never put damaged acreage to another use without prior written consent of the insurance adjuster. You don’t want to destroy any evidence of a possible claim. Learn more by visiting RMA’s website.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced eligible landowners have from June 1 until Aug. 31, 2026 to review and consider base acre increases on farms enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, as authorized by provisions included in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Act provides landowners with the opportunity to increase base acres in preparation for enrollment in ARC and PLC beginning with the 2026 and future crop years. Nationwide, up to 30 million new base acres can be added by eligible farms.
ARC and PLC are cornerstone commodity safety net programs that provide financial protection to farmers when market prices or revenues decline. These programs help producers manage risk and maintain the economic viability of their operations amid challenging market and weather conditions.
FSA began notifying eligible landowners, by direct mail, that Base Allocation Summaries outlining potential base acre increases will be available for review beginning June 1, 2026. These Base Allocation Summaries can be accessed online at fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc using a Login.gov account. Landowners who do not currently have a Login.gov account are encouraged to contact their local FSA county office to obtain their Base Allocation Summary beginning June 1, 2026. The Base Allocation Summary should be reviewed and any necessary actions completed by Monday, Aug. 31, 2026.
Farm operators often maintain detailed historical planting records. Early communication between landowners and farm operators will ensure the Base Allocation Summary is accurate and all necessary actions are completed by the deadline.
To be eligible for new base acres, a current covered commodity must have been planted or prevented from being planted on the farm during the 2019 through 2023 crop years. The farm’s average planted and prevented planted acres during that period must exceed the total existing base acres for all covered commodities in effect on Sept. 30, 2024, excluding unassigned base acres. FSA farm total base acres cannot exceed the farm’s total cropland acres. If eligible requests exceed the nationwide cap of 30 million acres, USDA will apply an across-the-board, prorated reduction to all approved new base acres.
For additional information, producers should contact their local FSA county office or visit U.S. Department of Agriculture online at fsa.usda.gov/state-offices
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced payment rates and the enrollment period for the Assistance for Specialty Crops Farmers (ASCF) program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will issue $1.625 billion in payments to eligible specialty crop producers in response to elevated input costs and market disruptions resulting from foreign competitors engaging in unfair trade practices that impeded specialty crop exports. Producers who have a Login.gov account can access and submit their pre-filled application starting June 1, 2026. Producers who do not have a Login.gov account or prefer to enroll in person at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office can request their prefilled application beginning June 8, 2026. The ASCF enrollment period closes on Aug. 7, 2026.
Learn more about ASCF!
Top of page
Woodruff County USDA Service Center
1274 Hwy 64
Augusta, AR. 72006
Phone: 870-347-2593
Fax: 855-644-0182
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Conservation District Board Meeting Date: TBD
Woodruff Co. Committee Meeting Date: Third Thursday of each month@ 8:30 a.m.
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FSA COUNTY EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
Mack McCuan
870-347-2593 EX 2
mack.mccuan@usda.gov
FARM LOAN MANAGER
Michael Person
870-347-2593 EX 2
michael.person@usda.gov
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NRCS DISTRICT CONSERVATIONIST
Nathan Wood
870-347-2593 EX 3
nathan.wood@usda.gov
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If you would need to request an accommodation to attend any meeting listed in this bulletin, please contact Mack McCuan at 870-347-2593 or mack.mccuan@usda.gov to request accommodations (e.g., an interpreter, translator, seating arrangements, etc.) or materials in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape – captioning, etc.), or Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339
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