Farm Bill Expiration Impacts FSA Programs

By: Chris Bruynis, Assistant Professor & Extension Educator, OSU Extension, Ross County

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released the following statement today. He stated that “many programs and policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture were authorized under the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (“2008 Farm Bill”) through September 30, 2012. These include a great number of critical programs impacting millions of Americans, including programs for farm commodity and price support, conservation, research, nutrition, food safety, and agricultural trade. As of today, USDA’s authority or funding to deliver many of these programs has expired, leaving USDA with far fewer tools to help strengthen American agriculture and grow a rural economy that supports 1 in 12 American jobs. Authority and funding for additional programs is set to expire in the coming months. Without action by the House of Representatives on a multi-year Food, Farm and Jobs bill, rural communities are today being asked to shoulder additional burdens and additional uncertainty in a tough time. As we continue to urge Congress to give USDA more tools to grow the rural economy, USDA will work hard to keep producers and farm families informed regarding those programs which are no longer available to them.”Many programs and policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) were authorized under the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (“2008 Farm Bill”) through Sep. 30, 2012.  These include a great number of programs impacting millions of Americans, including programs for farm commodity and price support, conservation, research, nutrition, food safety, and agricultural trade.

What this means is that Farm Services Agency cannot take new applications for programs until there is new guidelines passed by congress in the form of a new Farm Bill. This does not mean their doors are closed. FSA employees continue to work on existing contracts approved prior to end of the 2008 Farm Bill and on programs that have authorized funding beyond September 30, 2012. County FSA offices will be designing some strategy to track interest for producers asking about new CRP, CREP offers, etc. and work with these producers once the new rules are in place.

However, USDA continues to analyze the full impacts of the expiration of the 2008 Farm Bill and has produced a tentative list of programs to which new commitments cannot be made. The following programs are deemed to have expired with the end of the 2008 Farm Bill:

  • Dairy Forward Pricing Program
  • Milk Income Loss Contract Program
  • Dairy Promotion and Research Program
  • Conservation Reserve Program
  • Wetlands Reserve Program
  • Grassland Reserve Program
  • Market Access Program
  • Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program
  • Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops
  • Emerging Markets Program
  • Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program
  • Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative
  • Specialty Crop Research Initiative
  • Beginning Farmer and Ranchers Development Program
  • Healthy Forest Reserve
  • Biomass Research and Development Initiative
  • Biomass Crop Assistance Program
  • Farmers’ Market Promotion Program
  • Specialty Crop Block Grants
  • National Clean Plant Network
  • National Organic Certification Cost-Share
  • Outreach and Technical Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers or Ranchers

This is a partial list of programs that are understood to no longer be funded and new applications cannot be accepted until a new Farm Bill is passed.

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