By Liz Higgins, CCE-ENYCHP
Although if you have been following this program, this may be old news, but if you looked at the deadline last month and decided you couldn't make it and are now having second thoughts you have another chance to apply. Farmers who want to participate in the program now have about until April 24 to report their 2025 acres to USDA FSA, which is the first step to participate in the program.
Information about payment rates for specific crops is still not available - Given that over 90 crops are listed as eligible, I suspect that USDA is waiting to see what crops actually apply for the program before they calculate and announce payments. No sense spending lots of time calculating a payment rate for a crop with very few acres reported.
According to USDA's press release “After full consideration of requests from specialty crop producers, industry leaders and members of Congress, Secretary Rollins made a responsive, Farmers First decision to reopen the acreage reporting period for the Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers program,” said FSA Administrator Bill Beam. “We’re committed to doing what it takes to keep specialty crop producers economically viable and gathering accurate acreage reporting data is critical to making sound FSA program policy decisions. Reopening the reporting period ensures that every eligible producer has a fair opportunity to participate and that we deliver assistance where it’s needed most.”
Given that many specialty crop farms do not report acres to USDA FSA, routinely (unlike commodity crop farms) it is not surprising that farms and USDA FSA field offices needed more time to reach out to farms not in the system and get them enrolled.
I covered information about what is needed to apply in last month's newsletter. To learn more Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program | Farm Service Agency (scroll to the bottom to learn about specialty crops). You can learn more about reporting acres to USDA FSA on this website. Also contact your local USDA FSA office.
