Dear National Farmers Union members,
As you are well aware, a lapse in funding has caused a government shutdown affecting the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and several other federal agencies. Among other consequences, this has shuttered the doors of your county Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices.
Today, USDA announced that all county FSA offices will reopen on Thursday, January 24 to provide select services. For the first two full weeks under this operating plan (January 28 through February 1 and February 4 through February 8), FSA offices will be open Mondays through Fridays during normal business hours. In subsequent weeks, offices will be open three days a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, if needed to provide the additional administrative services.
Please read further to find out what services your county FSA offices will provide.
What Services Your FSA Office Will Provide
- Market Facilitation Program (deadline extended to Feb. 14).
- Marketing Assistance Loans.
- Release of collateral warehouse receipts.
- Direct and Guaranteed Farm Operating Loans, and Emergency Loans.
- Service existing Conservation Reserve Program contracts.
- Sugar Price Support Loans.
- Dairy Margin Protection Program.
- Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage.
- Livestock Forage Disaster.
- Emergency Assistance Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program.
- Livestock Indemnity Program.
- Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.
- Tree Assistance Program.
- Remaining Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program payments for applications already processed.
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What Services Your FSA Office Will Not Provide
- New Conservation Reserve Program contracts.
- New Direct and Guaranteed Farm Ownership Loans.
- Farm Storage Facility Loan Program.
- New or in-process Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program applications.
- Emergency Conservation Program.
- Emergency Forest Rehabilitation Program.
- Biomass Crop Assistance Program.
- Grassroots Source Water Protection Program.
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NFU is appreciative of the efforts of Secretary Sonny Perdue, Under Secretary Bill Northey and others at the USDA—particularly those working without a paycheck—who are working to restore as many services as possible for farmers during the shutdown. We will do everything we can to help make sure that farmers have the best opportunity to succeed given the circumstances. If our members are denied services that should be available to them, we want to hear about it so we can address those concerns. Should you have questions about this reopening, please contact your FSA county office.
Sincerely,
Roger Johnson, President
National Farmers Union
