Important Dates
View important dates like upcoming USDA program deadlines and events, and ongoing national USDA programs.
Upcoming Important Dates
View important dates like upcoming national USDA program deadlines and events.
Note: This does not include every deadline and only includes federal deadlines. Check with you local USDA Service Center to learn about all available programs, and programs that have local or state level deadlines.
USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) accepts applications for it's conservation programs year-round. Producers should apply by their state's ranking dates to be considered for funding in the current cycle. Applications received after ranking dates will be automatically deferred to the next funding period.
USDA's Risk Management Agency’s Margin Protection insurance plan has been expanded for corn and soybean producers in more than a thousand additional counties. Margin Protection insurance provides coverage against an unexpected decrease in operating margin caused by reduced county yields, reduced commodity prices, increased prices of certain inputs, or any combination of these perils.
The expanded coverage will be available by June 30, 2023. The Sales Closing Date to purchase Margin Protection coverage for 2024 crop year corn, soybeans and wheat is September 30, 2023.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will accept applications for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) from May 15, 2023, through November 1, 2023. OCCSP provides cost share assistance to producers and handlers of agricultural products who are obtaining or renewing their certification under the National Organic Program (NOP).
USDA’s Farm Service Agency’s Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops Program (FSCSC) assists specialty crop operations that incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses related to obtaining or renewing a food safety certification in calendar years 2022 and 2023. The deadline to apply for FSCSC assistance for calendar year 2023 is January 31, 2024.
Ongoing USDA Programs
The following federal USDA programs either do not have a deadline or have ongoing signup. Check with your local USDA Service Center to learn more about programs that have local or state level deadlines.
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provides farmers and ranchers an income source in exchange for removing environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production in an effort to improve environmental health and quality.
Signup for the continuous Conservation Reserve Program began on December 9, 2019 and is ongoing.
Crop acreage reports filed with USDA document the crops grown on your farm or ranch and their intended uses. You must file timely acreage reports to be eligible for many USDA programs.
Deadlines to file crop acreage reports vary by crop and by state and county. Farm Service Agency staff at your local USDA Service Center can help by providing you with maps and acreage reporting deadlines by crop for your county. Your crop insurance agent can assist you with reporting information necessary for crop insurance benefits.
July 17 is a major deadline for most crops.
USDA offers a variety of helpful programs with ongoing and localized deadlines to support agricultural producers including:
- Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) which provides funding and technical assistance for farmers and ranchers to restore farmland damaged by natural disasters and for emergency water conservation measures in severe droughts.
- FSA Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) which provides funding to restore privately owned forests damaged by natural disasters.
- Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) which provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops to protect against natural disasters that result in lower yields or crop losses, or prevents crop planting.
- Tree Assistance Program (TAP) which provides financial cost-share assistance to qualifying orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or, where applicable, rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes, and vines lost by natural disasters.
USDA offers a variety of helpful programs with ongoing and localized deadlines to support livestock producers including:
- Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) which provides financial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions, including blizzards and wildfires, as determined by the Secretary.
- Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) which provides benefits to livestock owners and some contract growers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by eligible loss conditions, including eligible adverse weather, eligible disease and attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law (including wolves and avian predators).
- Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) provides payments to eligible livestock owners and contract growers who have covered livestock and produce grazed forage crop acreage that has suffered a loss of grazed forage due to a qualifying drought during the normal grazing period for the county.
Past Important Dates
The following list shows past important dates, including past federal USDA program enrollment dates. Check with your local USDA Service Center to learn about programs that are currently open or that have local or state level deadlines.
The Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP) was created to assist certified organic dairy producers facing a unique set of challenges in recent years, including higher costs attributed to the pandemic and drought conditions across the country. ODMAP will provide more than $100 million in financial assistance to certified organic dairy producers. USDA’s Farm Service Agency will accept ODMAP applications from May 24 through August 11, 2023. Additional information is available at Dairy Programs (usda.gov)
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is currently accepting nominations for county committee members for elections that will occur later this year. All nomination forms for the 2023 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2023.
Agricultural producers and landowners with certain expiring Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts can extend that land’s role in conservation for another 30 years. USDA has opened the signup period for its Clean Lakes, Estuaries, And Rivers initiative (CLEAR30). Signup began April 1 and closes July 31, 2023. To sign up for CLEAR30, landowners and producers should contact their local USDA Service Center.
USDA's Pandemic Assistance Relief Program (PARP) wraps-up and fills remaining gaps in previous pandemic assistance. To be eligible for PARP, an agricultural producer must have been in the business of farming during at least part of the 2020 calendar year and had a 15% or greater decrease in allowable gross revenue for the 2020 calendar year, as compared to a baseline year. Signup opens Jan. 23 and closes on July 14, 2023.
USDA's Emergency Relief Program (ERP 2) Phase Two fills remaining gaps in previous ERP natural disaster assistance. To be eligible for ERP Phase Two, producers must have suffered a decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020 or 2021 due to necessary expenses related to losses of eligible crops from a qualifying natural disaster event. Assistance will be primarily to producers of crops that were not covered by Federal Crop Insurance or NAP, since crops covered by Federal Crop Insurance and NAP were included in the assistance under ERP Phase One. Signup opened Jan. 23 and closes on July 14, 2023.
ERP Phase Two has been updated to provide program benefits to producers of certain crops, including grapes used to produce wine and forage that is stored and fed to livestock, that do not generate revenue directly from the sale of their crop.
Find your state-specific ranking dates for conservation program applications. Apply before these dates to be considered for funding in the current cycle. Funding is provided through a competitive process so start early.
NRCS accepts applications year-round for these key conservation programs below. If you apply after the program ranking date, NRCS will automatically consider your application during the next cycle.
Agricultural producers and private landowners can sign up for the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) starting April 17, 2023, through May 26, 2023. Among CRP enrollment opportunities, Grassland CRP is a unique working lands program, allowing producers and landowners to continue grazing and haying practices while conserving grasslands and promoting plant and animal biodiversity as well as healthier soil.
General CRP helps producers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat on cropland. The signup runs Feb. 27, 2023 to April 7, 2023. Landowners and producers interested in CRP should contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more or to apply.
Take this very important survey by March 31, 2023! This voluntary, anonymous survey will take about 10 minutes to complete and asks about your general views and interactions with USDA.