All FSA offices to reopen
Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, January 23, 2019
- Beth Sant, loan officer at the Jerome County, Idaho, FSA office assists Barry Dalton, a livestock producer from Shoshone, Idaho, on Jan. 17.
USDA announced Tuesday that all Farm Service Agency offices across the country will reopen Jan. 24 to provide additional services during the remainder of the government shutdown.
About half of all FSA offices were reopened on Jan. 17 for three days to provide limited services related to existing loans and tax documents.
All FSA offices will be open Mondays through Fridays from Jan. 28 through Feb. 8. After that, they will be open three days a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, if needed to provide additional services.
Producers should call their local office to make an appointment.
FSA will offer services related to the following:
• Market Facilitation Program.
• 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.
Services that will not be provided include:
• 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.
In addition, the deadline to apply for the Market Facilitation Program has been extended to Feb. 14. USDA programs reauthorized by the farm bill will be available at a later date yet to be determined.