All Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices nationwide will soon reopen and offer a longer list of services to farmers and ranchers during the lapse in federal funding. The announcement was made today by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in a U.S. Department of Agriculture press release.
Beginning Thursday, January 24th, FSA offices will be open for normal hours, from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday, until February 8th. For all subsequent weeks beginning February 12th, FSA offices hours will be reduced to just three days a week – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – if needed, to provide additional administrative services.
Under this operating plan, FSA can provide the following administrative services:
- Market Facilitation Program (The deadline to apply for the MFP, which aids farmers harmed by unjustified retaliatory tariffs, has been extended to February 14.)
- Marketing Assistance Loans
- Release of collateral warehouse receipts
- Direct and Guaranteed Farm Operating Loans, and Emergency Loans
- Service existing Conservation Reserve Program contracts
- Sugar Price Support Loans
- Dairy Margin Protection Program
- Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage
- Livestock Forage Disaster
- Emergency Assistance Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program
- Livestock Indemnity Program
- Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program
- Tree Assistance Program
- Remaining Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program payments for applications already processed
However, the following transactions will NOT be available during the government shutdown:
- New Conservation Reserve Program contracts
- New Direct and Guaranteed Farm Ownership Loans
- Farm Storage Facility Loan Program
- New or in-process Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program applications
- Emergency Conservation Program
- Emergency Forest Rehabilitation Program
- Biomass Crop Assistance Program
- Grassroots Source Water Protection Program
For additional information on the available services during the lapse in federal funding can be found on the FSA shutdown webpage: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/help/shutdowninfo.
