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Arizona State Office

State Executive Director

Ginger Sykes Torres

Ginger Sykes Torres

Read Ginger Sykes Torres'

State Office Address

230 N. 1st Avenue
Suite 506
Phoenix, Arizona 85003-1726
(602) 285-6300
(855) 220-1760

Welcome to the Arizona Farm Service Agency Home Page

Our primary mission is to help ensure the success of Arizona’s farmers and ranchers through various programs and technical assistance. The work that FSA continues to accomplish day to day is important not only to the agricultural producers around the State but also to the rural communities that depend on the agricultural industry.

The hard-working men and women of Arizona's county offices are at the forefront of our efforts and remain the primary contact for program participation. We encourage you to speak with the staff at your local FSA office on how we can be of service. Our website can help you learn more about FSA programs and services.


Dairy Producers Can Enroll for 2024 Dairy Margin Coverage Beginning Feb. 28


Starting this Wednesday, dairy producers will be able to enroll for 2024 Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC), an important safety net program offered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides producers with price support to help offset milk and feed price differences. This year’s DMC signup begins Feb. 28, 2024, and ends April 29, 2024. For those who sign up for 2024 DMC coverage, payments may begin as soon as March 4, 2024, for any payments that triggered in January 2024.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has revised the regulations for DMC to allow eligible dairy operations to make a one-time adjustment to established production history. This adjustment will be accomplished by combining previously established supplemental production history with DMC production history for those dairy operations that participated in Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage during a prior coverage year. DMC has also been authorized through calendar year 2024. Congress passed a 2018 Farm Bill extension requiring these regulatory changes to the program.

DMC is a voluntary risk management program that offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.  In 2023, Dairy Margin Coverage payments triggered in 11 months including two months, June and July, where the margin fell below the catastrophic level of $4.00 per hundredweight, a first for Dairy Margin Coverage or its predecessor Margin Protection Program. 


Agricultural Producers Have Until March 15 to Enroll in USDA’s Key Commodity Safety Net Programs for the 2024 Crop Year

Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2024 crop year have until March 15, 2024, to revise elections and sign contracts. Both safety net programs, delivered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provide vital income support to farmers who  experienced substantial declines in crop prices or revenues for the 2024 crop year.  Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County or PLC, which provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual, which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2024 are optional, producers must enroll, with a signed contract, each year. If a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm, the contract will continue for 2024 unless an election change is made.    

If producers do not submit their election revision by the March 15, 2024, deadline, the election remains the same as their 2023 election for eligible commodities on the farm. Also, producers who do not complete enrollment and sign their contract by the deadline will not be enrolled in ARC or PLC for the 2024 year and will not receive a payment if one is triggered. Farm owners can only enroll in these programs if they have a share interest in the commodity.  

Producers are eligible to enroll farms with base acres for the following commodities:  barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.    For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can visit their local USDA Service Center.


Arizona Disaster Designations 


Secretarial Natural Disaster Determination S5626

On November 20, 2023, Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsack, under 7 CFR 759.5(a), designated one (1) Arizona County as a primary disaster area due to drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) 02 Drought­ Severe for 8 or more consecutive weeks or 2) 03 Drought-Extreme or 04 Drought-Exceptional. 

This designation makes farm operators in primary counties, and those counties contiguous to such primary counties, eligible to be considered for certain assistance from FSA, provided eligibility requirements are met. This assistance includes FSA emergency loans. Farmers in eligible counties have eight (8) months to apply for emergency loans. 

Applications for emergency loans will be received through July 22, 2024.

Affected Counties and States

Arizona Primary County (1):

 Navajo                                                      

Contiguous Counties

In accordance with section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, counties that are contiguous to a designated primary county will be named as contiguous counties where eligible family farmers may qualify for FSA emergency loan assistance. For this designation the contiguous counties in Arizona and surrounding states are:

Arizona Contiguous Counties (4):
Apache                               Coconino                                     
Gila                                     Graham                                                  


Utah Contiguous County (1):
San Juan                                                 


Farmers, Ranchers Now Can Make USDA Farm Loan Payments Online

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that most farm loan borrowers will be able to make payments to their direct loans online through the Pay My Loan feature on farmers.gov in early February. Pay My Loan is part of a broader effort by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to streamline its processes, especially for producers who may have limited time during the planting or harvest seasons to visit a local FSA office; modernize and improve customer service; provide additional customer self-service tools; and expand credit access to assist more producers.



Phoenix Urban Ag COC Special Election

Your voice and vote matters!

The Urban Ag COC Special Election is underway for LAA's 1 & 3. Your representative will make important decisions on FSA programs for producers in your county for the next three years.

Don’t delay! Nominating is easy. Simply write the nominee of your choice on our nomination form. You can nominate yourself as well!

Just remember, nomination forms must be postmarked or returned by March 20th, 2024.

Need a nomination form or have questions? 

Contact the Urban Agriculture County Office at 602-285-6319 or joseph.vigliotte@usda.gov.


County Committee Elections

    • June 15, 2024 – Nomination Period Begins.

    • August 1, 2024 – Last day to file nomination forms at the local USDA Service Center.

    • November 7, 2024 – Ballots mailed to eligible voters.

    • December 5, 2024 – Last day to return voted ballots to the USDA Service Center.

    • January 1, 2025 – Newly elected county committee members take office.



Phoenix Urban Ag Center- Update

The Phoenix Urban Ag Center is currently in progress.  It will be situated at the U of A Cooperative Extension Service



Are you a New/Beginning Farmer?

USDA Service Centers across the country, are hearing from people who are interested in more space and working the land and we want to let you know we can help. Are you new to farming because of the pandemic? USDA can help you get started in farming – on everything from helping you register your farm to getting financial assistance and advice.   

Get Started with USDA

First, you want to make sure your farm is registered. If you purchased land, it might already be established with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) with a farm number on file. If not, FSA can help you register your farm.

To obtain a farm number, you’ll bring an official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID) and a property deed. If you do not own the land, bring a lease agreement to your FSA representative to show you have control of the property. If your operation is incorporated or an entity, you may also need to provide proof that you have signature authority and the legal ability to enter into contracts with USDA.  Find your local service center here

Access to Capital

USDA can provide access to capital through its farm loans, which is a great resource when producers aren’t able to get a loan from a traditional lender. Loans can help with purchasing land or equipment or with operating costs, and FSA even offers microloans, which are especially popular among producers with smaller farms. For more information, check out our Farm Loan Discovery Tool.

Conservation Practices

We can help you make conservation improvements to your farm, which are good for your bottom line and your operation. We’ll help you develop a conservation plan and apply for financial assistance that’ll cover the bulk of the costs for implementing. To learn more about some of the conservation practices that we help producers with, check out our Conservation at Work Video Series.

If you purchase land, and you don’t want to farm all of it, you can look at either a conservation easement or managing for native shrubs and grasses through either the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) or Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Easements are long-term, while a CRP contract is 10-15 years. These are good options for land that is not optimal for production or sensitive lands like wetlands and grasslands.

Additional Resources

Depending on your farm, you may want to look at crop insurance. The USDA’s Risk Management Agency provides crop insurance to help you manage risks on your farm. There are many types of insurance products available for a wide variety of production practices, including organic and sustainable agriculture.

Your local communities also have great resources for farmers including conservation districts, Rural Development, cooperative extensions, and different farming groups. To get started with USDA, contact your local USDA service center.  We encourage you to check the status of your local USDA Service Center and make an appointment to discuss your business needs.



Arizona USDA/FSA reminds our agricultural producers of important Farm Service Agency (FSA) program dates. Contact your local service center to apply and for any questions. 
NAP Application Closing Dates:

May 1
 Cauliflower, Carrots, Broccoli, Cabbage, Celery, Nursery 
August 31 Onion, Leeks

Crop Reporting Dates:

March 15 Acreage Reporting for- Barley, Oats, Pecans, Pistachios, Potatoes, Wheat



For more information about USDA programs and to find your local service center please contact your local USDA Service Center. or visit our website at: www.farmers.gov.


About the Farm Service Agency

The Farm Service Agency is a federal agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Located in all 50 states, our mission is to help American farmers provide reasonably priced food and fiber to the nation and the world.

The Arizona State Office is located in Phoenix, Arizona. County Service Centers are located in eight Arizona communities to serve the needs of area farmers and ranchers. Click the link below for County Office phone numbers and addresses: HERE

The Farm Service Agency State Committee in Arizona oversees the activities of the agency. The members are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture each year. They hear appeals from local farmers and guide the direction of agency policy.

Arizona State Committee: 
William K. Perry - Chairman
Brett Hunt -Acting Chairman


Sign Up Now: Instant Electronic Bulletins & SMS Texting

GovDelivery is a free email service that enables FSA County Offices to send you bulletins, deadline reminders and newsletters instantly. Sign up now to receive information faster and reduce printing and mailing costs. To sign up use the email box “Sign up for updates:" on the right column of this page. Subscribe to text message alerts to receive timely updates on: deadline reminders, program notifications, reporting requirements, local outreach events. To subscribe to text message alerts, text AZ and COUNTY NAME to FSANOW (372-669). Standard text messaging rates apply. Participants may unsubscribe at any time. No more than two reminder messages will be sent each month on average. GovDelivery is your one-stop shop for the most up-to-date USDA program information. Sign up online


FSA Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Resources

It is FSA's policy to provide equal opportunity in all programs, services, and activities to LEP persons. 

Limited English Proficiency (LEP) persons are individuals who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English. As directed in Executive Order 13166 " Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency", LEP statutes and authorities prohibit exclusion from participation in, denial of benefits of, and discrimination under federally assisted and/or conducted programs on the ground of race, color, or national origin.

FSA offers three types of language translation and interpretation services available to customers at no cost:  (1) document translation; (2) telephonic interpretation; and (3) in-person interpretation. These language translation and interpretation services will assist both customers and staff with overcoming language barriers.

iSpeak posters are displayed in each office to identify the language need to the county office staff.

For more information, visit farmers.gov/translations

Please contact your local county office. To find the office closest to you, visit http://offices.usda.gov.