This commentary is by John D.E. Roberts, executive director of the Vermont state office of the USDA Farm Service Agency.
If you are not a farmer or not connected to the agriculture industry, you may not be aware of programs provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency and the direct and indirect impacts they have on you as a resident of Vermont and as a consumer of agricultural commodities produced right here in our great state.
Alternatively, perhaps you’ve always been interested in agriculture but didn’t know you could turn to USDA and the Farm Service Agency for support in making your dreams a reality.
By helping farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers through credit, price support, safety net, disaster assistance and conservation programs, the Farm Service Agency has a significant impact on production agriculture in Vermont, which in turn impacts consumers of food, feed, fuel and fiber.
These federal farm programs play a critical role in not only safeguarding our nation’s food supply and security, but also helping support and build local and regional markets for Vermont-grown products. Economists estimate that payments made to producers through federal farm programs change hands locally an average of six times.
Access to capital often poses a barrier to agricultural producers. The Farm Service Agency offers loans to help farmers and ranchers get the financing they need to start, expand, or maintain a family farm. We also have a loan assistance tool, available on our website, that can help farmers determine their eligibility for our loan programs, learn about our loan types, and walk through our forms.
FSA lends directly to producers, and we also work in partnership with private and cooperative lending institutions to provide loan guarantees on loans that banks extend to farmers — making commercial loans easier to obtain by reducing the risk to the lending institution.
Our agency also offers what we refer to as safety net programs that help producers manage risk. One of these programs utilized in Vermont is the dairy margin coverage program. Dairy farmers pay a premium to participate in this risk management program, which monitors the margin between the cost of feed to produce milk and the pay price that farmers receive for that milk. The program pays the farmer when that margin exceeds predetermined benchmarks.
We are also awaiting full details on a new dairy program, the Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program, which Tom Vilsack, the U.S. secretary of agriculture, announced in January, This program will provide vital relief to our organic dairies that have been negatively impacted in the last year by feed price increases and other market disruptions. Notice of funds availability will be issued later this year.
In addition to our safety net programs, the Farm Service Agency administers a full suite of conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which helps improve our water quality here in Vermont. That program is managed in partnership with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. Through fencing and tree plantings, this conservation program compensates farmers for excluding livestock from waterways and fragile land areas. Although farmers are historically excellent stewards of our natural resources, these conservation programs provide technical and financial support that allow producers to maximize their conservation efforts to the benefit of all Vermonters.
Farmers and livestock producers are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters that catastrophically affect production, farm infrastructure, and ultimately a producer’s livelihood and way of life. The Farm Service Agency stands ready to help producers recover through several disaster recovery and emergency relief programs. Right now, Vermont’s FSA staff is gathering information on Winter Storm Elliott’s 2022 damage to sugar maple stands. We should be able to assist maple producers with financial assistance to reimburse their cleanup cost and to repair their sugarbushes.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, FSA distributed significant sums of money to help farmers ride out market volatilities caused by supply chain disruptions. The recently announced Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program can assist farmers with any shortfalls in farming revenue caused by the pandemic. And phase two of FSA’s emergency relief program can assist producers with revenue losses resulting from qualifying natural disasters in 2020 and 2021. June 2 is the application deadline for both programs.
Working for FSA is an excellent way to help farmers and livestock producers. We are always looking for new employees. The best way to find a job with FSA is at USAjobs.gov. We offer great career opportunities for both new college graduates and people at later stages of their careers who are looking for a rewarding way to connect with and assist the farming community.
One of our new and exciting areas is outreach efforts to new and beginning farmers, underserved producers, urban producers and military veterans involved in production agriculture. Farmers are getting older, and we need to attract and give an opportunity to the next generation. Agriculture is a calling, but also can be a financially rewarding business regardless of the size of the operation.
FSA has funds available to help farming enthusiasts get into this business or grow their existing business. I really appreciate and I am encouraged by the humble, committed, and diverse producers, stakeholders, and Vermonters I have met through this job. If you have a business plan or even just a long-held idea, contact us and let’s see if we can help you find the financing tools, risk management products, and conservation programs and services needed to bring your idea to fruition.
Check our website, Vermont State Office (usda.gov), or email me, John.Roberts2@usda.gov, and I will connect you to the appropriate staff.
