USDA to Streamline Hurricane Relief and Census of Ag Shows Farm Losses

USDA to Streamline Hurricane Relief and Census of Ag Shows Farm Losses

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.

**The USDA announced it’s taking steps to streamline and provide flexibilities for environmental compliance requirements for relief programs for 2024 hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.

These flexibilities allow the Farm Service Agency to expedite approval of payments and practice implementation for the Emergency Conservation, Forest Restoration, and Tree Assistance Programs.

FSA is waiving the requirement that producers impacted by hurricanes submit certain receipts and documentation.

www.gfb.org/news/ag-news/post/usda-provides-compliance-flexibilities-for-hurricane-relief

**The 2022 Census of Agriculture shows the U.S. had just over 1.9 million farms, down 10% from over 2.1 million in 2012.

The last two Census of Ag surveys saw the number of farms decrease in all four farm size categories.

Farms with annual revenue of less than $10,000 saw the largest drop, declining by 13%.

Large farms with $1 million or more in revenue increased by 32%.

**In a letter to House and Senate Ag Committees, the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance expressed disappointment that specialty crop production, which represents nearly half the farm gate value of American agriculture, is left out of the final year-end economic assistance package.

The Alliance reiterates the need for Congress to provide certainty to specialty crop growers by passing a bipartisan five-year Farm Bill, instead of an extension, which delays much-needed investments for the industry.

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