What's Up at the USDA Office?
Deadlines/Dates
July 13-19: Allamakee County Fair
July 15: Deadline to Report Acres
August 2: Primary Nesting Season Ends
August 12: Deadline to submit an SDRP application
USDA Celebrates One Year Anniversary of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, Delivers Final ‘Farmers First’ Program Improvements
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making significant improvements to its disaster assistance and commodity loan programs as outlined in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. As part of the commitment to put Farmers First, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is strengthening disaster assistance support for livestock producers, orchardists and nursery tree growers, increasing Marketing Assistance Loan rates, and expanding Marketing Assistance Loans to better help cotton and sugar producers.
Cumulatively, the changes outlined in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act provide a significant investment in American agriculture. Last month, FSA announced expanded payment limitation and payment eligibility provisions and the opportunity to increase base acres on eligible farms. FSA also previously announced that producers will benefit from increased reference prices for major commodities starting this fall. Additional policy enhancements for FSA disaster and commodity loan programs are taking effect.
Disaster Assistance Programs
USDA is expanding disaster assistance coverage and increasing benefits to help producers recover from eligible losses.
• Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP): ELAP helps producers with losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events, and qualifying conditions that are not covered by other USDA disaster assistance programs. Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026, ELAP is providing benefits to farm-raised fish losses due to birds that feed on fish and has established a payment rate of $600 per acre of farm raised fish. Also, effective for 2026 losses, FSA will use a normal mortality rate of 15% for eligible honeybee colony losses.
• Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP): LFP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who suffer eligible grazing losses due to a qualifying drought or fire. Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026, the threshold has been lowered for producers to qualify for a one-month payment with payments now triggering after four consecutive weeks of qualifying severe drought (D2 on the U.S. Drought Monitor) conditions instead of eight weeks. And producers may receive a two-month payment if D2 drought conditions continue for seven out of eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period.
• Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP): LIP helps livestock owners and contract growers who suffer livestock losses beyond normal mortality levels due to eligible adverse events. Starting this year, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026, LIP rates increase to 100% for predation from animals listed as endangered or protected (compared with 75% of market value), and producers have the option to document regional price premiums that exceed the national average market price for eligible livestock losses. Additionally, LIP will also cover unborn livestock losses that occurred on or after Jan. 1, 2024. In most cases, the payment will be automatic for 2024 and 2025 losses based on LIP data on file with FSA with no action required by the producer.
• Tree Assistance Program (TAP): TAP helps orchardists and nursery tree growers replant or rehabilitate trees, bushes, and vines that were lost due to an eligible natural disaster. Retroactive to January 1, 2026, FSA is removing the 15% normal mortality rate, increasing the reimbursement rate for activities like pruning and removal, and extending the implementation period to 24 months with an option to extend.
USDA Accepts 2.2 Million Acres Through 2026 Conservation Reserve Program Enrollment to Benefit Natural Resources, Ag Operations
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting 2.2 million acres into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for 2026. Through CRP, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers agricultural producers and landowners incentive payments for their conservation efforts while benefiting their agricultural operations and protecting the nation’s natural resources.
Producers and landowners submitted offers on nearly 2.5 million acres through the General, Grassland and Continuous CRP signups. Because the program’s total acreage is capped at 27 million acres for fiscal year 2026, only 2.2 million acres were available for enrollment, making for a highly competitive process for those who submitted offers for CRP.
Of the nearly 1.5 million acres set to expire on Sept. 30, producers submitted re-enrollment offers for just over 982,000 acres. Additionally, producers submitted offers to enroll 1.5 million acres of new land.
Nebraska, Colorado, and South Dakota hold the top three slots for accepted acres for all 2026 CRP enrollment opportunities.
About CRP
By enrolling in CRP, producers and landowners receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource-conserving vegetative covers. CRP helps reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and increase wildlife habitat, contributing to the overall health of ecosystems.
Additionally, annual rental payments provide a steady income stream for participants, helping to stabilize farm income. Grassland CRP is a working lands conservation program that enables participants to conserve grasslands while also continuing most grazing and haying practices.
More Information
Signed into law in 1985, CRP is one of the largest voluntary private-lands conservation programs in the United States. Originally intended to primarily control soil erosion and potentially stabilize commodity prices by taking marginal lands out of production, the program has evolved over the years, providing many conservation and economic benefits to farmers, ranchers, and landowners across the country.
Book Appointments Online with the Allamakee County FSA Office
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is putting farmers first by offering a new option to schedule appointments online with the Allamakee County Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. Following a successful pilot program, FSA is using a digital appointment platform across the agency to allow producers to conveniently make farm program or farm loan program appointments online.
Appointments can be scheduled through FSA’s digital platform, Microsoft Bookings, using a mobile device, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. To assist producers in finding their local FSA office to make an appointment, FSA has also launched a new FSA County Office locator that is searchable by state and by county. Each county office contact page has a unique link for producers to make an appointment online and shows contact information for the local FSA office and the farm loan team. Scheduled appointments may be in-person or virtual with the local FSA office depending on producer preference.
Producers can conveniently schedule appointments for a variety of services with both farm program and farm loan staff. The Microsoft Bookings-based system will automatically send a confirmation email to the producer along with reminder emails for upcoming appointments.
Producers still have the option to call the Allamakee County FSA Office at (563) 568-2148 ext.2, or visit in person to make an appointment.
USDA Helps Organic Producers with Certification Costs
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping organic producers and handlers cover certification costs as part of the Department’s effort to put Farmers First and Make America Healthy Again. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting applications to help with organic certification costs for the 2025 and 2026 program years through the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP), which covers up to 75% of eligible organic certification costs. Producers and handlers must apply by Dec. 31, 2026, for both program years.
Cost Share Assistance
OCCSP provides cost share assistance to producers and handlers for the costs of obtaining or maintaining organic certification under the National Organic Program, which is administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. Producers and handlers are eligible to receive 75% of the costs, up to $750 for each of the following scopes: crops, wild crops, livestock, processing/handling and state organic program fees.
FSA will make payments as applications are received on a first-come, first-served basis until available funds are depleted.
Eligibility
To be eligible for OCCSP, a producer or handler must have their USDA organic certification for the applicable program year at the time of application and must have paid fees or expenses related to the initial certification or renewal from a certifying agent during the program year. For program year 2025, they must have possessed a USDA organic certification at any time during the program year.
There are four USDA organic regulation recognized scopes that must be individually inspected and certified: crops, livestock, wild crops, and handling. The scopes must be listed on the producer or handler’s organic certificate to be eligible for OCCSP. Eligible costs include:
• Application and administrative fees for USDA organic certification
• Inspection fees for USDA organic certification, including travel and per diem costs for organic inspectors
• USDA organic certification costs, including fees necessary to access international markets with which AMS has equivalency agreements or arrangements
• State organic program fees
• User and sale assessment fees for USDA organic certification
• Postage costs for materials related to obtaining or renewing USDA organic certification.
How to Apply
To apply, producers and handlers should contact their local FSA county office. As part of completing the OCCSP application, producers and handlers will need to provide documentation of their organic certification and eligible expenses. Organic producers and handlers may also apply for OCCSP through participating state agencies.
Opportunity for State Agency Participation
FSA will soon announce a 30-day application period for state agencies to apply through grants.gov to administer OCCSP. If a state agency chooses to participate in OCCSP, both the state agency and FSA county offices in that state will accept OCCSP applications and make payments to eligible certified operations.
However, producers and handlers may not receive OCCSP payments for the same scope through both the state agency and their FSA county office.
More Information
For more information, producers and handlers can visit the OCCSP webpage or contact their local FSA county office.
