SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, December 28, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended the deadline for agricultural producers who are certified organic, or transitioning to organic, to apply for the Organic and Transitional Education and Certification Program (OTECP). This program provides pandemic assistance to cover certification and education expenses. The deadline to apply for 2020 and 2021 eligible expenses is now February 4, 2022, rather than the original deadline of January 7, 2022.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Small nonfarm businesses in 15 Montana counties and neighboring counties in North Dakota are now eligible to apply for low‑interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, announced Director Jeffrey Lusk of SBA’s Disaster Field Operations Center‑West. These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by drought in the following primary counties that began Aug. 22. 

Primary Montana counties:  Garfield, McCone, Phillips, Roosevelt and Valley;

WASHINGTON, August 26, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline to November 20, 2020, for the Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP), a new pilot program that enables farmers to receive payments for planting perennial cover for conservation use for three to five years. Signup opened March 30, 2020, for the pilot program, which is part of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and available to producers in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or the refinance of certain debts.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 02, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) encourages urban producers, innovative producers and other stakeholders to submit comments for and virtually attend the upcoming public meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (Committee) on Nov. 29, 2023.     

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2020 – President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced up to an additional $14 billion for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19. Signup for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2) will begin September 21 and run through December 11, 2020.

** Embargoed Until 8:00 a.m. Est, January 19,2022**

Athens, GA, 01/18/2022 - The Georgia USDA announced a virtual workshop for new and prospective farmers to learn more about getting started with their farming operations and working with the USDA agencies to assist them. The "Roadmap to Success" virtual workshop will be held on February 23, 2022 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2023 - The U. S Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide more than $3 billion to commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by natural disaster events in 2022. Eligible impacted producers can apply for financial assistance through the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) 2022. The program will help offset the financial impacts of crop yield and value losses from qualifying disasters occurring in 2022. 

Contact: FPAC.BC.Press@usda.gov