Contact: Regan Soloman

Phone number: 615-277-2600

Email: regan.soloman@tn.usda.gov

(Nashville, TN) February 26, 2013 — Tennessee Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Gene Davidson announced today that the Tennessee FSA will conduct a four-week Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up beginning May 20 and ending on

June 14, 2013.

"It continues to be our goal to ensure that we use CRP to address our most critical resource issues," said Davidson. “In 2012, many states experienced the worst drought in 60 years. CRP protected environmentally sensitive lands from washing or blowing away. It gave ranchers extra grazing land when they needed it. I expect there will be strong competition to enroll or re-enroll acres into CRP, so I urge Tennessee’s producers to maximize their environmental benefits and make sure their offers are cost-effective.”

In addition to erosion control, CRP provides significant water quality benefits including reduced nutrients and sediment loadings and adverse consequences associated with floods as well as expanded and enhanced wildlife habitat.

Currently, about 27 million acres are enrolled in CRP nationwide, 176,806 acres in Tennessee. CRP is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them safeguard environmentally sensitive land. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve the quality of water, control soil erosion and enhance wildlife habitat. Contracts on an estimated 3.3 million acres of CRP are set to expire on September 30, 2013, 51,181 of those acres in Tennessee. Producers with expiring contracts or producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP.

Producers that are accepted in the sign-up can receive cost-share assistance for planting covers and receive an annual rental payment for the length of the contract (10-15 years). Producers also are encouraged to look into CRP’s other enrollment opportunities offered on a continuous, non-competitive, sign-up basis. Continuous sign-ups often provide additional financial assistance. Those sign-up dates will be announced later.

For more information on CRP and other FSA programs, visit your local FSA county office or www.fsa.usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay),

(866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

FSA Disaster Assistance Programs

• Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP)—provides assistance to eligible producers affected by a natural disaster, covering noninsurable crop losses and prevented planting (must file notice of loss within 15 calendar days of date of loss or of the date damage to the crop or loss of production becomes apparent to the participant) http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=nap

• Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Program—provides assistance for crop production and/or quality losses due to a natural disaster http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=sure

FSA also offers loan programs that may provide assistance:

• Emergency Loan Program - FSA provides emergency loans to help producers recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding, other natural disasters, or quarantine. Emergency loans may be made to farmers and ranchers who own or operate land located in a county declared by the President as a disaster area or designated by the Secretary of Agriculture as a disaster area or quarantine area (for physical losses only, the FSA Administrator may authorize emergency loan assistance). Emergency loan funds may be used to: restore or replace essential property; pay all or part of production costs associated with the disaster year; pay essential family living expenses; reorganize the farming operation; and refinance certain debts. http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=fmlp&topic=efl

Visit your local Farm Service Agency Office for more information regarding these programs.