Agriculture Mediation Program
Helps agricultural producers, their lenders, and other persons directly affected by the actions of USDA resolve disputes. Through mediation, a trained, impartial person (mediator) helps participants review their conflicts, identify options, and agree on solutions. Mediation is a valuable tool for settling disputes in many different USDA program areas. These include farm loans, farm and conservation programs, wetland determinations, rural water loan programs, grazing on national forest system lands, and pesticides usage. The program is authorized through 2005 by the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100-233) (7 U.S.C. 5101 (5104), as amended by the Grain Standards and Warehouse Improvement Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-372). Learn More
Beginning Farmer Down Payment Loan
A type of farm ownership loan made to eligible applicants to finance a portion of a real estate purchase. The statutory authority for beginning farmer down payment loans is section 310E of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (Pub. L. 87- 128) (7 U.S.C. 1935). Learn More
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Provides a voluntary program 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. In return, CCC provides participants rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years. CRP was authorized by section 1231 of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended (Pub. L. 99-198)(16 U.S.C. 3831, et seq.). Learn More
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
As the name implies, this program is an enhanced version of the very successful Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The Michigan CREP enhancements are dedicated staff and financial incentives provided by the State of Michigan. CREP is a special conservation program that allows the CRP to be tailored to meet the needs of the State. CREP is a Federal-State conservation partnership program that targets significant environmental effects related to Agriculture. CREP priority areas include the Lake Macatawa, River Raisin, and Saginaw Bay Watersheds. Learn More
Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment (DCP) Program
Provides payments to eligible producers on farms enrolled for the 2002 through 2007 crop years. There are two types of DCP payments direct payments and counter-cyclical payments. Both are computed using the base acres and payment yields established for the farm. Base acres and payment yields are established for the following commodities: barley; corn; grain sorghum, including dual-purpose varieties that can be harvested as grain; oats; canola, crambe, flax, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame and sunflower, including oil and non-oil varieties; peanuts, beginning in DCP; rice, excluding wild rice; soybeans; upland cotton; and wheat. DCP was authorized by sections 1101-1108 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171) (7 U.S.C. 7911 et seq.). Learn More
Direct Farm Ownership Loan
A loan made to eligible applicants to purchase, enlarge, or make capital improvements to family farms, or to promote soil and water conservation and protection. Maximum loan amount is $300,000. A percentage of direct farm ownership loan funds is targeted for beginning farmers and socially disadvantaged applicants as mandated by sections 346 and 355 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (Pub. L. 87-128) (CONACT) (7 U.S.C. 1994 and 7 U.S.C. 2003), respectively. The statutory authority for direct farm ownership loans is section 302 of the CONACT (7 U.S.C. 1922). Learn More
Direct Operating Loan
A loan made to an eligible applicant to assist with the financial costs of operating a farm. Maximum loan amount is $300,000. A percentage of direct operating loan funds is targeted for beginning farmers as mandated sections 346 and 355 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (Pub. L. 87-128) (CONACT) (7 U.S.C. 1994 and 7 U.S.C. 2003), respectively. The statutory authority for direct operating loans is section 311 of the CONACT (7 U.S.C. 1911). Learn More
Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)
Provides emergency funding for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by wind erosion, floods, hurricanes, or other natural disasters, and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures during periods of severe drought. The natural disaster must create new conservation problems, which, if not treated, would: impair or endanger the land; materially affect the productive capacity of the land; represent unusual damage which, except for wind erosion, is not the type likely to recur frequently in the same area; and be so costly to repair that Federal assistance is, or will be, required to return the land to productive agricultural use. Authorized by section 401 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-334) (16 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.). Learn More
Emergency Farm Loans
Loans are available to eligible applicants who have incurred substantial financial losses from a disaster. Maximum outstanding loan amount is $500,000. The statutory authority for emergency loans is section 321 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (Pub. L. 87-128) (7 U.S.C. 1961). Learn More
Farm Storage Facility Loan Program
USDA may make loans to producers to build or upgrade farm storage and handling facilities. Commodities covered under this storage program are rice, soybeans, dry peas, lentils, small chickpeas, peanuts, sunflower seeds, canola, rapeseed, safflower, flaxseed, mustard seed, and other oilseeds as CCC determines and announces. Corn, grain sorghum, oats, wheat, or barley harvested as whole grain or other than whole grain are also eligible. The program is authorized under the CCC Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714 et seq.). Learn More
Grassland Reserve Program (GRP)
GRP is voluntary, and it offers landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance grasslands on their property. Section 2401 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171) added section 1238N to the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3838n) to authorize this program. USDA's NRCS, FSA, and Forest Service are coordinating GRP implementation. The program will conserve vulnerable grasslands from conversion to cropland or other uses and conserve valuable grasslands by helping maintain viable ranching operations. Learn More
Guaranteed Farm Ownership Loan
A loan made by another lender and guaranteed by FSA to eligible applicants to purchase, enlarge, or make capital improvements to family farms, or to promote soil and water conservation and protection. Maximum loan amount is $1,112,000 (for FY 2010). A percentage of guaranteed farm ownership loan funds is targeted for beginning farmers as mandated by sections 346 and 355 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (CONACT) (Pub. L. 87-128) (7 U.S.C. 1994 and 7 U.S.C. 2003), respectively. The statutory authority for guaranteed farm ownership loans is section 302 of the CONACT (7 U.S.C. 1922). Learn More
Guaranteed Operating Loan
A loan made by another lender and guaranteed by FSA to an eligible applicant to assist with the financial costs of operating a farm. Maximum loan amount is $1,112,000 (for FY 2010). A percentage of guaranteed operating loan funds is targeted for beginning farmers as mandated sections 346 and 355 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (Pub. L. 87-128) (CONACT) (7 U.S.C. 1994 and 7 U.S.C. 2003), respectively. The statutory authority for guaranteed operating loans is Section 311 of the CONACT (7 U.S.C. 1941). Learn More
Indian Tribal Land Acquisition Program
A loan available to Indian tribes for purchasing privately held lands within their respective reservations boundaries. The statutory authority for Indian Tribal Land Acquisition loans is Pub. L. 91-229 (25 U.S.C 490).
Inflation Reduction Act
Since October 2022, USDA has provided approximately $1.5 billion in immediate assistance to more than 24,000 financially distressed direct and guaranteed FSA loan borrowers through the Inflation Reduction Act.
FSA is currently accepting individual requests for assistance from borrowers who took certain extraordinary measures to avoid delinquency on their direct FSA loans, missed a recent installment, or are unable to make their next scheduled installment.
For more information on eligibility, or to submit a request for assistance, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center or visit farmers.gov/inflation-reduction-investments/assistance.
Milk Income Loss Contract Extension (MILCX) Program
This program compensates dairy producers when domestic milk prices fall below a specific level. MILCX payments are made on a monthly basis when the Boston Class I (BCI) milk price per hundredweight (cwt) falls below $16.94. The payment rate percentages will be; 34% of the difference between $16.94 and the BCI milk price for October 1, 2005 through August 31, 2007; and 0% of the difference between $16.94 and the BCI milk price for September 2007.
This program was authorized by The Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2005, (the 2005 Act), Section 1101, which authorized the extension of the Milk Income Loss Contract Program (MILC). The MILC program was originally authorized by Section 1502 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-1710 (7 USC 7981). Learn More
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP)
Provides financial assistance to eligible producers affected by drought, flood, hurricane, or other natural disasters. This federally funded program covers noninsurable crop losses and planting prevented by disasters. Producers who are landowners, tenants, or sharecroppers who share in the risk of producing an eligible crop are eligible. Eligible crops include commercial crops and other agricultural commodities produced for food (including livestock feed) or fiber for which the catastrophic level of crop insurance is unavailable. Also eligible for NAP coverage are controlled-environment crops (mushrooms and floriculture), specialty crops (honey and maple sap), and value loss crops (aquaculture, Christmas trees, ginseng, ornamental nursery, and turfgrass sod). Authorized by section 196 of the Agricultural Market Transition Act (Pub. L. 104-127) (7 U.S.C. 7333), as amended. Learn More
Nonrecourse Marketing Assistance Loan and Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP) Program
Provide producers interim financing at harvest time to meet cash flow needs without having to sell their commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. Allowing producers to store production at harvest facilitates more orderly marketing of commodities throughout the year. Marketing assistance loans for covered commodities are nonrecourse because the commodities are pledged as loan collateral and producers have the option of delivering the pledged collateral to CCC as full payment for the loan at maturity.
A producer who is eligible to obtain a loan, but who agrees to forgo the loan, may obtain an LDP. The LDP rate equals the amount by which the applicable loan rate where the commodity is stored exceeds the alternative loan repayment rate for the respective commodity.
Sections 1201-1209 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171) (7 U.S.C. 7231 et seq.) (2002 Act) continue nonrecourse marketing assistance loan and LDP provisions of previous legislation. The 2002 Act provides for nonrecourse marketing assistance loans and LDP's for the 2002-2007 crops of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans, other oilseeds (including sunflowers, canola, safflower, flaxseed, rapeseed, mustard seed, crambe and sesame), rice, upland cotton, peanuts, honey, wool, mohair, dry peas, lentils, and small chickpeas. Learn More
Sugar Loan Program and Sugar Marketing Allotments
Provides that CCC administer nonrecourse loans for the 2002 through 2007 crops. The Sugar Loan Program provides nonrecourse loans to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and sugar beets. This program helps to stabilize America's sugar industry and ensure the well being of agriculture in the United States. Authorized by Section 156 of the Federal Agriculture Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7272), as amended by section1401 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171).
Part VII of subtitle B of Title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 U.S.C. 1359 et seq.), as amended by section 1403 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171), provides that, at the beginning of each fiscal year, CCC will establish marketing allotments for domestically produced sugar from sugar beets and domestically produced sugarcane. The Secretary will strive to establish an overall allotment quantity that results in no forfeitures of sugar to CCC under the sugar loan program. The Secretary shall make estimates of sugar consumption, stocks, production, and imports for a crop year as necessary, but not later than the beginning of each of the second through fourth quarters of the crop year. Prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, these estimates must be updated. Learn More
Sugar Storage Facility Loan Program
Provides loans to processors of domestically-produced sugarcane and sugar beets for the construction or upgrading of storage and handling facilities for raw sugars and refined sugars. Loans may be made only for the purchase and installation of eligible storage facilities, permanently affixed handling equipment, or the remodeling of existing facilities. Authorized under section 1402 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-171) (7 U.S.C.7971). Learn More
Youth Loans
Provides operating type loans to eligible rural youth applicants to finance a modest income-producing agricultural project. Maximum loan amount is $5,000. The statutory authority for youth loans is section 311 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (Pub. L. 87-128). Learn More