Farm Service Agency

You sent me a link last night, Ty, maybe you can pull that up that kind of like collected all this information, the feedback, super impressive way to get that feedback and put it in a structured manner where you can really read through and click.

what states are having certain responses and like definitely like resonated with me like I missed the survey and didn't fill it out but like I have kind of a similar relationship with our local FSA office where like the person that I deal with is like very nice and it seems like they want to help but there's some kind of bottleneck and information where it's like you're asking about a program and like we have no information so it's just kind of like a lot of kind of kicking the can where it's like really good people with limited information.

Yeah and I think you know with with what you have pulled up here, one of the primary questions that we wanted to ask is where does your trust level lie with the USDA? And it was a pretty staggering, disappointing result that 73% of respondents rate their confidence in the USDA, a one or a two out of five and only 4% of respondents.

This was, this was 1200 people responded about 4 million acres were represented across the U S 38 different States.

So the 73 percent.

that don't trust the USDA data is the exact opposite.

73% of farmers rate their local FSA office a four or a five out of five points, which shows high local trust.

And I think that's something that we'll come back to here that should really be capitalized on as the USDA looks at this.

Well, help might be on the way.

USDA's Farm Service Agency is in the process of developing logistics associated with the recently announced Harvest Fuel Relief Program, designed to assist producers with high fuel prices during harvest.

We're putting the data together on what those payments are going to look like, and it'll be on a per-acre basis.

That's Production and Conservation Undersecretary Richard Fordyce, who explains, acres are based on October 16, 2026 acreage reports.

And then the last thing was the 12% payment band on ARC versus a 10%.

So the safety net that we're getting through the FSA programs was dramatically improved with the OB3.

So as a producer, I'm thankful for that.

And I appreciate all the work of the folks in DC to help us out as we're struggling with prices and input costs.

How will that be different? We talked a little bit about the timing of OB3 when it was passed, but how will 2026 be different than what we experienced for 25?

Yeah, so the big thing is having to make that decision by farm number, by crop again.

So then I want to stress this and I'll stress it again at the end as a reminder, producers have to go into FSA to sign up.

If they don't sign up, they're going to get automatically enrolled in what they were in for 25, but they will not be eligible for a payment.

Meanwhile, Kerr, a former state senator with decades of agricultural experience, explained how she hopes to contribute if the Republican ticket wins.

Kerr previously chaired the Arizona Senate's Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee and served as the state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency.

She said her background in farming, water policy, and rural issues would help shape her role in a Biggs administration.

Initially, Kerr expects to serve as a legislative liaison, helping review bills vetoed by Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs and identifying measures the new administration might want lawmakers to reconsider.