USDA to Allocate 30M Additional Base Acres

USDA is working to determine how much additional base acreage farmers may qualify for under federal safety net programs. Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce says the department is reviewing acres tied to last year's farm bill changes and will notify landowners once the process is complete.

“We're in the middle of an additional base acre allocation that came to us through language in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 30 million additional base acres will be allocated across the country, and right now FSA, they're in the process of finalizing what we're calling a history dig, understanding the number of acres planted in what crops from 2019 to 2023 Once that work is complete, we'll understand how many acres at that point the landowner will be notified of additional base acres that they're eligible to add to their farming business. One of the provisions is the base acre total cannot exceed the number of acres farmed on a farm, so if you have 100 acre farm, you can't have 120 acres of base.>

Fordyce says that landowners need to remember one key point: base acre decisions are tied to the land itself, not the operator. That means notices will go directly to landowners, and any changes will follow the farm number going forward.