[Community Alliance with Family Farmers]

Thanks for starting this discussion, Phil! One question that’s come up for us at CAFF is how to connect farmers with these funds. I’m curious to hear if there are any tips/strategies for helping small farmers navigate working with their FSA office and how other organizations or businesses plan to interface with FSA for outreach?

[Billy Mitchell]

Hey y’all,

Sorry to miss this call today and excited to read the notes! I know this doesn’t directly answer your question, sorry!, but . . . we’re in the process of working with quite a few farms to get their Farm Number on new/existing land and help establish relationships with the FSA/NRCS offices. For better or for worse, phone call has been much more effective in reaching someone than email. We’ve had a couple of offices tell us they are not receiving our emails or the farmers emails (insert shrug + screamy face emoji here). Everyone we’ve reached by phone has been great. If you’ve not worked with the FSA office before, the attached paperwork is (I think) always needed. May be helpful to review so you’ve got some questions to ask.

USDA-Getting-Started-Packet.pdf 905 KB PDF - Click to view

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[Kevin Kelly]

Thanks for setting this up Phil. I just dropped a slide deck from USDA that was distributed yesterday as training for USDA field folks.

[Kevin Kelly]

More guidance from USDA:

The sales income limit, is that strictly for sales of crops they produce, or does it also include crops/produce they purchase from other farmers for re-sale?

In the annual calculation of total produce sales, include the following:

• All produce sold, not just produce covered by the Produce Safety Rule

• Produce that you purchased or otherwise obtained and then resold

• Produce sold directly to consumers or online

• Produce sold at farmers’ markets or to grocery stores

• Produce sold by a third-party on your behalf, such as through a cooperative that takes possession, but not ownership, of your produce

• Retail sales, wholesale sales, intrastate sales, and interstate sales (including produce offered for import to the U.S. or exported from the U.S.)

Do not include the following in the calculation:

• Produce for which no payment was received (i.e., produce held without sale, or produce donated)

• The value of produce from other entities when a third-party is selling produce on your behalf along with produce from other entities. For example, when your produce is sold by a cooperative, along with produce from other growers, you should only consider the value from your produce sales