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Policies and Links

Privacy Policy

Our privacy policy is clear: We will collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide that information to us.

For more information, Please visit:


Accessibility Statement

FSA maintains an Accessibility Statement page which can be accessed at:


Non-Disclosure Agreements Notice

As a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee, you may have been required to sign a non-disclosure policy, form, or agreement (NDA) to access classified or other information. You should read the following statement as if it were incorporated into any NDA you have signed:

"These provisions are consistent with and do not supersede, conflict with, or otherwise alter the employee obligations, rights, or liabilities created by existing statute or Executive order relating to (1) classified information, (2) communications to Congress, (3) the reporting to an Inspector General of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, or (4) any other whistleblower protection. The definitions, requirements, obligations, rights, sanctions, and liabilities created by controlling Executive orders and statutory provisions are incorporated into this agreement and are controlling."

The provisions in the following list of Executive orders and statutory provisions are controlling in the case of any conflict with an USDA NDA.

  • Executive Order No. 13526;
  • Section 7211 of Title 5, United States Code (governing disclosures to Congress);
  • Section 1034 of Title 10, United States Code, as amended by the Military Whistleblower Protection Act (governing disclosure to Congress by members of the military);
  • Section 2302(b)(8) of Title 5, United States Code, as amended by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 (governing disclosures of illegality, waste, fraud, abuse or public health or safety threats);
  • Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (50 U.S.C. § 421, et seq.) (governing disclosures that could expose confidential Government agents);
  • The statutes which protect against disclosure that may compromise the national security, including sections 641, 793, 794, 798, and 952 of Title 18, United States Code; and
  • Section 4(b) of the Subversive Activities Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. § 783(b)).

Freedom of Information Act

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which can be found in Title 5 of the United States Code, section 552, was enacted in 1966 and provides that any person has the right to request access to federal agency records or information. All agencies of the United States government are required to disclose records upon receiving a written request for them, except for those records that are protected from disclosure by the nine exemptions and three exclusions of the FOIA. This right of access is enforceable in court. The federal FOIA does not, however, provide access to records held by state or local government agencies, or by private businesses or individuals. All states have their own statutes governing public access to state and local records; state agencies should be consulted for further information about them.

FSA maintains a FOIA home page which can be accessed at:


Digital Rights and Copyright

Most information presented on the FSA Web site is considered public domain information. Public domain information may be freely distributed or copied, but use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested. Attribution may be cited as follows: "U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency."

Some materials on the FSA Web site are protected by copyright, trademark, or patent, and/or are provided for personal use only. Such materials are used by FSA with permission, and FSA has made every attempt to identify and clearly label them. You may need to obtain permission from the copyright, trademark, or patent holder to acquire, use, reproduce, or distribute these materials.


Trademark

Congress has not granted the FSA a trademark. Use of the FSA symbol is stated below:

"USDA Symbols or logos are intended for the official use of the United States Department of Agriculture only. They are expressly excluded from use to imply endorsement of a commercial product or service. The symbol or logo may not be used by anyone outside of USDA without permission."


Links to Other Sites

The FSA Web site has links to many other Web sites. Once you access another site through a link that we provide, you are subject to the copyright and licensing restrictions of the new site.

It is the sole responsibility of you, the user of this site, to carefully examine the content of the site and all linked pages for copyright and licensing restrictions and to secure all necessary permissions.


Patent Laws

FSA observes laws governing patents, and provides information about patented items.

You may need permission from the patent holder to use or duplicate provisions in the patent.


No Fear Act

On May 15, 2002, President Bush signed legislation called the No FEAR Act (Notification and Federal Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002). This law became effective on October 1, 2003. The primary purpose of the Act is to improve agency accountability for anti-discrimination and whistle-blower laws.

FSA No Fear Act Information can be accessed at:


Quality of Information

FSA will strive to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information that its agencies and offices disseminate to the public.


Website Security

Information presented on the USDA website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

  1. For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.

  2. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes and are scheduled for regular destruction in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration General Schedule 20.

  3. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.

Web Content Publishing Schedule

Section 207(f)(2) of the E-Government Act of 2002 requires federal agencies to develop an inventory of information to be published on their Web sites, establish a schedule for publishing information, make those schedules available for public comment, and post the schedules and priorities on the Web site.


Comments or Questions

If you have any comments or questions about the information presented here, please forward them to our Web Manager through Ask USDA.