Funding Programs

The Certified Mediation Program (CMP) provides agricultural producers, their creditors, and other stakeholders with a confidential and neutral platform to resolve disputes. This program helps facilitate mutually agreeable solutions through mediation, promoting better communication and reducing the need for litigation.

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a voluntary program that provides financial incentives to farmers and landowners to implement CRP practices that address high-priority conservation issues. CREP targets specific state, tribal, and nationally significant agricultural and environmental concerns, such as water quality, soil erosion, and wildlife habitat.

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provides financial compensation to farmers and landowners to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and implement conservation practices. This program aims to improve water quality, reduce soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat.

The Dairy Indemnity Payment Program (DIPP) provides financial compensation to dairy producers who have suffered income losses due to the contamination of milk or the removal of dairy cows because of residues, chemicals, toxic substances, or nuclear radiation or fallout. The program aims to help dairy farmers recover from these unexpected and unavoidable losses.

The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) provides financial assistance to eligible producers who experience losses due to disease, adverse weather, or other conditions not covered by other disaster programs. ELAP helps mitigate the financial impact of these unexpected events on livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish operations.

Farm Operating Loans provide financial assistance to farmers and ranchers for a wide range of operating expenses. These loans support the purchase of livestock, equipment, feed, seed, supplies, and other essential items needed to sustain and improve agricultural operations.

The Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) Program provides low-interest financing to help producers construct or upgrade farm storage and handling facilities. This program supports the acquisition, construction, and enhancement of storage facilities and equipment to improve on-farm storage capacity and efficiency.

The Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops Program (FSCSC) provides financial assistance to specialty crop producers for obtaining food safety certifications. This program helps ensure that specialty crops meet food safety standards and supports the agricultural sector in maintaining high-quality products.

The Graze-Out Program provides financial assistance to producers who choose to graze livestock on their acreage planted with wheat, barley, oats, or triticale instead of harvesting the grain. This program supports livestock grazing and offers payments in lieu of traditional loan deficiency payments (LDP).

Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) provide financial assistance to producers of eligible commodities who agree to forego a Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loan in return for a payment when market prices are below the established loan rates. This program supports farmers by providing an alternative to taking out a loan, helping to stabilize income when market prices are low.

The Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters. This program helps to mitigate the financial impact of these adverse events on agricultural operations.

Operating Microloans provide small, flexible loans to help beginning, niche, and small family farm operations meet their operational needs. These loans support the purchase of equipment, livestock, feed, seed, supplies, and other essential items to sustain and improve farming operations.

The Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program provides financial assistance to organic dairy producers to offset market volatility, transportation costs, and unstable feed supply and prices. In 2024, ODMAP made available approximately $58 million in marketing assistance to eligible organic dairy producers based on 2023 marketing costs.

Ownership Microloans provide small, flexible loans to help beginning, niche, and small family farm operations purchase or improve farmland and buildings. These loans support the acquisition of land, construction or improvement of farm structures, and other capital expenses necessary to establish and sustain agricultural operations.

The Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment (RTCP) program provides financial assistance to farmers and ranchers to help offset the high costs of transporting agricultural commodities and inputs. This program aims to support producers in Alaska, Hawaii, and insular areas where transportation costs are significantly higher.

The Sugar Loan Program provides sugar producers with interim financing at harvest time to meet cash flow needs without having to sell the commodity when market prices are typically at their lowest. This program supports the orderly marketing of sugar throughout the year and ensures a minimum price floor for producers.

The Sugar Storage Facility Loan (SSFL) Program provides low-interest loans to sugar producers and processors to construct or purchase storage and handling facilities, equipment, and trucks. This program aims to improve storage, handling efficiency, and product quality.

Youth Loans provide financial assistance to young people aged 10 to 20 to finance income-producing, agriculture-related projects. These projects must be part of an organized and supervised program, such as 4-H, FFA, or a similar organization, and are aimed at fostering the development of agricultural skills and experience.