FSA Glossary of Terms

GLOSSARY

Glossary of FSA Terms

Browse 40+ FSA Terms

Browse this list of terms you may encounter when engaging with FSA and its programs.

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Acreage Report

Documents the crops grown on your farm or ranch and their intended uses. You must file timely acreage reports to be eligible for many USDA programs. Advance Payment — a payment that may be made available in advance of the installation of the conservation practice.

Assignment of Payment

This form, known as the CCC-36, allows the participant to directly assign part or all of a payment received for Farm Bill program participation to another individual, group of individuals or entities. Farm Bill — a package of legislation passed roughly once every 5 years that impacts farming livelihoods, how food is grown, what kinds of foods are grown. It covers commodities, conservation, nutrition, loans, rural development, research, extension services, forestry, energy, horticulture, crop insurance, labor safety, workforce development, and much more.

Conservation Concern

An expected degradation of the soil, water, air, plant, animal, or energy resource base to an extent that the sustainability or intended use of the resource is impaired. This may also be called a Resource Concern.

Conservation Loan

An FSA Direct or Guaranteed Loan that can be used to fund the implementation of approved conservation practices in accordance with an NRCS Conservation Plan or Forest Service Steward Management Plan.

Conservation Plan

A free tool designed to help you better manage the natural resources on your farm or ranch. An NRCS conservationist will meet with you to evaluate the soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources on your property and offer several alternatives to address the resource conditions. The alternatives you decide to use are recorded in your conservation plan, which includes a schedule for installation.

Conservation Planning Activities

Activities for which producers can receive NRCS funding to engage Technical Service Providers (TSPs) to help identify and assess the resource concerns against planning criteria in a conservation plan and determine the practices to implement.

Conservationist

An individual who provides technical expertise and conservation planning for farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners wanting to make conservation improvements to their land.

Cooperative Extension Service

Assists the public in the areas of agriculture, lawn and garden, community development, 4H and youth development, family, and consumer education.

Design Implementation Activities

Activities for which producers can receive NRCS funding to engage Technical Service Providers (TSPs) to help identify how to implement systems, practices, and activities. These may include the development of specific practice designs, management prescriptions, or other instructions to implement a producer’s selected conservation system.

Direct Loan

Direct Loans offer up to 100 percent financing and are a valuable resource to help farmers and ranchers purchase or enlarge family farms, improve and expand current operations, increase agricultural productivity, purchase livestock or equipment, recover from natural disasters, and assist with land tenure to save farmland for future generations. With a maximum loan amount of $600,000 for Direct Farm Ownership ($300,150 for Beginning Farmer Down Payment) and $400,000 for Direct Farm Operating Loans, all FSA Direct Loans are financed and serviced by the Agency through local Farm Loan staff. The funding comes from Congressional appropriations as part of the USDA budget.

Easement

An interest in land defined and delineated in a deed whereby the landowner conveys rights, title, and/or interests in a property to the grantee, but the landowner retains fee-title ownership.

Emergency Loan

An FSA Direct Loan that can be used to help qualified operators recover from a declared natural disaster. This loan can help with paying costs of repairing or replacing damaged property, replacing lost crop income, and providing funds for operating costs. Producers can borrow up to 100% of actual production and physical losses to a maximum amount of $500,000.

Farm and Tract Number

Farm Number is a unique identifier assigned by FSA to a farm. Tract Number is a unique identifier assigned to a land unit that is part of a farm.

Farm Bill

A package of legislation passed roughly once every 5 years that impacts farming livelihoods, how food is grown, and what kinds of foods are grown. It covers commodities, conservation, nutrition, loans, rural development, research, extension services, forestry, energy, horticulture, crop insurance, labor safety, workforce development, and much more.

Farm Ownership Loan

An FSA Direct or Guaranteed Loan that can be used to purchase or expand a farm or ranch. This loan can help with paying closing costs, constructing or improving buildings on the farm, or conserving and protecting soil and water resources. The maximum loan amount for a Direct Farm Ownership Loan is $600,000, and for a Guaranteed Farm Ownership Loan is $2,236,000 (these amounts are adjusted annually for inflation).

Financial Assistance

Funds paid to an eligible program participant under an agreement entered into with NRCS.

FSA County Committee

A committee elected by the agricultural producers in the county or area to help deliver farm programs at the local level and work to ensure programs serve the needs of local producers.

Guaranteed Loan

FSA’s Guaranteed Farm Loan Programs help family farmers and ranchers to obtain loans from USDA-approved commercial lenders at reasonable terms to buy farmland or finance agricultural production. FSA will guarantee farm loans through a commercial lender up to $2,236,000. Financial institutions receive additional loan business as well as benefit from the safety net the FSA provides by guaranteeing farm loans up to 95 percent against possible financial loss of principal and interest.

Heirs Property

A legal term that refers to family land inherited without a will or legal documentation of ownership.

Highly Erodible Land (HEL)

Cropland, hayland, or pasture that can erode at excessive rates. It would contain soils that have an erodibility index of eight or more. If a producer has a field identified as highly erodible land, that producer is required to maintain a conservation system of practices that keeps erosion rates at a substantial reduction of soil loss.

Microloan

An FSA Direct Loan, either Farm Ownership or Operating Loan, designed to meet the needs of small and beginning farmers, or for non-traditional and specialty operations by easing some of the requirements and offering less paperwork. The maximum loan amount for a Microloan is $50,000.

Operating Loans

An FSA Direct or Guaranteed Loan that can be used to purchase livestock, seed, and equipment. This loan can also cover farm operating costs and family living expenses while a farm gets up and running. The maximum loan amount for a Direct Operating Loan is $400,000, and for a Guaranteed Operating Loan is $2,236,000 (these amounts are adjusted annually for inflation).

Practice Implementation

The action taken by a producer or contractor to install or carry out a planned conservation practice to address a natural resource concern, meet the technical requirements of the design standard, and achieve an environmental benefit.

Ranking Pools

Customized to incorporate locally led input and are established to allow program applications with similar land uses/production types, resource concerns, and in similar geographic areas to compete for funding with similar operations.

Risk Management

The forecasting and evaluation of financial risks together with the identification of procedures to avoid or minimize their impact.

Schedule of Operations

This document identifies the conservation practices to be implemented, timing of the implementation, practice location, and payment rates.

Service Center

Location where you can connect with FSA, NRCS, or Rural Development employees for your business needs. Find your local Service Center and agency offices using the USDA Service Center Locator at farmers.gov/service_locator.

Technical Assistance

Guidance provided to farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners with the knowledge and tools they need to conserve, maintain, and restore the natural resources on their lands and improve the health of their operations for the future.

Technical Service Provider (TSP)

An individual or business with technical expertise in conservation planning and design that serves as consultants to provide services on behalf of NRCS.

Wetland

Wetlands are defined differently by different people and different government agencies. But there are three factors of commonality in these various definitions; wetlands can be defined by having wetland vegetation (hydrophytes) or supporting such vegetation under normal circumstances, having a predominance of hydric soils, and having wetland hydrology (inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions).

Youth Loan

A type of Operating Loan for young people between 10–20 years old who need assistance with an educational agricultural project. Typically, these youth are participating in 4-H clubs, FFA, or a similar organization. The maximum loan amount for Youth Loans is $5,000.

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