DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 29, 2016 – Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Lanon Baccam today announced that beginning Jan. 9, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will offer an early termination opportunity for certain Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts, making it easier to transfer property to the next generation of farmers and ranchers, including family members. The land that is eligible for the early termination is among the least environmentally sensitive land enrolled in CRP.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that starting March 20, 2017, organic producers and handlers will be able to visit over 2,100 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices to apply for federal reimbursement to assist with the cost of receiving and maintaining organic or transitional certification.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced that there is not a cotton storage deficit.

LAS VEGAS, Dec. 6, 2016 – Agriculture Under Secretary Michael T. Scuse today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved and obligated the first loan under the Highly Fractionated Indian Land Loan program (HFIL). The program, made possible by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides revolving loan funds to qualified intermediary lenders, allowing qualified tribes and individuals the ability to purchase tribal farmland that has multiple owners. Scuse made the announcement during the Intertribal Agriculture Council Membership meeting in Las Vegas, Nev.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2016 – Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Deputy Under Secretary Alexis Taylor today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will accept more than 504,000 acres that were offered by producers during the recent ranking period for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands enrollment. Through the voluntary CRP Grasslands program, grasslands threatened by development or conversion to row crops are maintained as livestock grazing areas, while providing important conservation benefits.

HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 4, 2016 – Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Deputy Under Secretary Alexis Taylor today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will offer a new Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands practice specifically tailored for small-scale livestock grazing operations. Small livestock operations with 100 or fewer head of grazing dairy cows (or the equivalent) can submit applications to enroll up to 200 acres of grasslands per farm. USDA’s goal is to enroll up to 200,000 acres.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2016 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for November 2016. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for November is 0.625 percent, unchanged from 0.625 percent in October.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will issue nearly $1.7 billion in payments to more than half of a million Americans who have contracts with the government to protect sensitive agricultural lands. The investment, part of the voluntary USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), will allow producers to protect almost 24 million acres of wetlands, grasslands and wildlife habitat in 2016.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2016 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that beginning today, many of the 1.7 million farms that enrolled in either the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs will receive safety-net payments due to market downturns during the 2015 crop year.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation today announced that the marketing assistance loan rate for 2017-crop base quality upland cotton is 49.49 cents per pound.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making additional funding available to eligible New York state producers within the Chesapeake Bay watershed to undertake certain conservation practices that improve water quality in the bay. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will provide up to $1 million in incentives, coupled with state matching funds of $200,000 to enroll or re-enroll land devoted to riparian buffers. A riparian buffer is an area of trees and shrubs located adjacent to streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini today announced that additional funding will be made available to assist more than 1,900 approved applicants who are awaiting farm operating loans. The funds, which were reprogrammed by FSA with the approval of Congress, will leverage up to $185 million in additional lending for direct and guaranteed farm operation loans and will allow the agency to address up to 30 percent of its projected shortfall of funds until the next federal fiscal year resumes on Oct. 1.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced plans to purchase approximately 11 million pounds of cheese from private inventories to assist food banks and pantries across the nation, while reducing a cheese surplus that is at its highest level in 30 years. The purchase, valued at $20 million, will be provided to families in need across the country through USDA nutrition assistance programs, while assisting the stalled marketplace for dairy producers whose revenues have dropped 35 percent over the past two years.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2016 – U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation today announced 2016 crop loan rates for four types of peanuts.

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announced today that it does not expect to purchase sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program in the third quarter of 2016. CCC is required by law to announce quarterly estimates of sugar to be purchased for the Feedstock Flexibility Program based on crop and consumption forecasts.

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2016 – Today, during National Pollinator Week and in advance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) seventh annual Pollinator Week Festival, the USDA is announcing two initiatives in support of the President’s National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honeybees and Other Pollinators, announced just over one year ago.

One-time Payments to Begin in July to Assist with 2016 Ginning Season 

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2016 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) will provide an estimated $300 million in cost-share assistance payments to cotton producers through the new Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program, in order to expand and maintain the domestic marketing of cotton.

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2016 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that farmers and ranchers filing crop acreage reports with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and participating insurance providers approved by the Risk Management Agency (RMA) now can provide the common information from their acreage reports at one office and the information will be electronically shared with the other location.

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2016 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the enrollment of more than 800,000 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) .  Through CRP, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) helps farmers offset the costs of restoring, enhancing and protecting certain grasses, shrubs and trees that improve water quality, prevent soil erosion and strengthen wildlife habitat. Farmers’ and ranchers’ participation in CRP continues to provide numerous benefits to our nation, including helping reduce emissions of harmful greenhouse gases and providing resiliency to future weather changes .

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 29, 2016 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide a new financing option to help farmers purchase portable storage and handling equipment. Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Administrator Elanor Starmer announced changes to the Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) program today during a local and regional food roundtable in Columbus, Ohio. The loans, which now include a smaller microloan option with lower down payments, are designed to help producers, including new, small and mid-sized producers, grow their businesses and markets.

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) today announced the 2016-crop loan rate differentials for upland and extra-long staple cotton.

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation today announced the 2016 marketing assistance loan rates by county for wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans and each “other oilseed” (canola, crambe, flaxseed, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower, sesame seed and sunflower seed). The rates are posted on the Farm Service Agency (FSA) website at www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/price-support/commodity-loan-rates/index.

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announced today that it does not expect to purchase sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program in the second quarter of 2016. The CCC is required to announce quarterly estimates of sugar to be purchased for the Feedstock Flexibility Program based on crop and consumption forecasts.

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2016 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini announced today that USDA has begun making final payments to peanut producers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi, helping to restore nearly 100 percent of the value of their peanuts after the bankruptcy of a peanut sheller and licensed warehouse operator.

LA CROSSE, Wis., Feb. 26, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its intent to assist organic farmers with the cost of establishing up to 20,000 acres of new conservation buffers and other practices on and near farms that produce organic crops. USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs, Brad Pfaff, issued the announcement today at the Midwest Organics and Sustainable Education Service conference in La Crosse, Wis.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is reminding farmers and ranchers that the competitive sign-up deadline for its most popular voluntary conservation program, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), is Feb. 26, 2016. This will be one of the most competitive general sign-up periods in history, in part due a statutory limit on the number of acres that can be enrolled in the program. The most competitive applications will be those that combine multiple conservation benefits, such as water quality and wildlife habitat.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2016 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for February 2016. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for February is 0.625 percent, unchanged from 0.625 percent in January.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2016 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for January 2016. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for January is 0.625 percent, up from 0.375 percent in December.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today finalized a rule to ensure that farm safety-net payments are issued only to active managers of farms that operate as joint ventures or general partnerships, consistent with the direction and authority provide by Congress in the 2014 Farm Bill. The action, which exempts family farm operations, closes a loophole where individuals who were not actively part of farm management still received payments.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that it is expanding the availability of farm loans for Indian tribes and members to purchase tribal farmland that has multiple owners. The improved lending opportunities are possible due to new authority granted by the 2014 Farm Bill, which allows USDA to provide revolving loan funds to qualified intermediary lenders that can relend the funds to qualified tribes and individuals. The program becomes available today, Dec.1, 2015.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2015 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for December 2015. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for December is 0.375 percent, up from 0.250 percent in November.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2015 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced a partnership with the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) to conduct agricultural credit training sessions in the Midwest for military veterans and beginning farmers and ranchers. States under consideration to host the workshops include Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2015 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for November 2015. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for November is 0.250 percent, down from 0.375 percent in October. 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2015 — The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that beginning today, nearly one half of the 1.7 million farms that signed up for either the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs will receive safety-net payments for the 2014 crop year.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2015 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for October 2015. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for October is 0.375 percent, unchanged from 0.375 percent in September.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2015 – Commodity Credit Corporation Executive Vice President Val Dolcini today announced the marketing assistance loan rate for 2016-crop base quality upland cotton.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 22, 2015 – Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden today announced that $2.5 million in grants is now available for projects to educate new and underserved farmers about more than 20 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency programs that can provide financial, disaster or technical assistance to the agricultural community.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds farmers and ranchers affected by the recent wildfires in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington State that USDA has programs to assist with their recovery efforts.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2015 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini reminds farmers and ranchers that they have until Sept. 30 to enroll in several key Farm Bill safety net programs – Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy).

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announced today a reassignment of projected fiscal year 2015 surplus cane sugar marketing allocation among cane processors and a reassignment of projected surplus beet sugar marketing allocation among beet processors. The Commodity Credit Corporation also announced today that it does not expect to purchase and sell sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program for fiscal year 2016.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2015 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini announced that enrollment begins today for farmers and forest landowners seeking financial assistance for growing new sources of biomass for energy or bio-based products within designated projects areas. The funds are available from the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), which was reauthorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2015 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for August 2015. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for August is 0.250 percent, unchanged from 0.250 percent in July.

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that over 98.2 percent of producers have met the 2014 Farm Bill requirement to certify conservation compliance to qualify for crop insurance premium support payments.

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2015 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced interest rates for July 2015. The CCC borrowing rate-based charge for July is 0.250 percent, unchanged from 0.250 percent in June.

PORTLAND, June 29, 2015 — Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden today announced that starting July 1, 2015, dairy farmers can enroll in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Margin Protection Program for coverage in 2016. The voluntary program, established by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides financial assistance to participating dairy operations when the margin – the difference between the price of milk and feed costs – falls below the coverage level selected by the farmer. Harden made the announcement while visiting Wolfe’s Neck Farm and dairy school in Freeport, Maine.

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation announced today that it does not expect to purchase sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program in the third quarter of 2015. The Commodity Credit Corporation is required to announce quarterly estimates of sugar to be purchased for the Feedstock Flexibility Program based on crop and consumption forecasts.

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2015 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that eligible producers may now formally enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for 2014 and 2015. The enrollment period begins June 17, 2015, and will end Sept. 30, 2015.

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2015 – Following an announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack on May 29, 2015, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced that all 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. may now apply for up to $100 million in grants under the Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership (BIP). The funding is to support the infrastructure needed to make more renewable fuel options available to American consumers. The Farm Service Agency will administer BIP.