IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

• CRP SIGNUP - Continuous (SAFE Lessor Prairie Chicken and Highly Erodible Land Initiative (HELI) February 12 to March 20 is the end of the first batching period. 
• CRP SIGNUP - General CRP Signup 66 March 9, 2026 - April 17, 2026
• SDRP - Supplemental Disaster Relief Program – Stage 1 and Stage 2 - application deadline is April 30, 2026
• NAP COVERAGE DEADLINE - Coverage for spring planted crops. CCC-471 application for coverage must be completed by March 16, 2026.
• CRP PRIMARY NESTING SEASON – March 15, 2026 to July 15, 2026. No activity can occur on CRP acres (except for Grassland CRP) during this time.  No contract management, no managed grazing. 

Busy FSA Offices

FSA Offices nationwide currently have heavy workloads, dealing with staff shortages and many deadlines to meet.  It’s important that when an FSA employee reaches out either by phone or email, producers pay attention and respond to the action requested.

1099-G

Producers who earned less than $600.00 through FSA will not receive a 1099-G for tax purposes. 

Producers who have questions regarding payments received from NRCS or have not received a 1099-G for tax purposes can call 1099 help desk @ 1-800-421-0323.

CRP GENERAL SIGNUP

March 9, 2026, FSA will begin accepting offers for General CRP signup 66 through April 17, 2026. Currently, continuous signup (explained below) will continue through March 20, 2026. Producers interested in submitting an offer need to contact the FSA office. FSA will run a report which will give the producer the maximum rental rate per acre. For new land to be eligible, the land must meet cropping history requirements and eligible producer requirements. Cropping history years are 2012 through 2017. The producer submitting the offer must have operated or owned the land for at least one year by the April 17^th date. Land that currently has a tenant or sharecropper must either be afforded the opportunity to participate in the CRP contract or voluntarily release their interest in the CRP offer.

Producers with any expiring contract is eligible to offer land for General CRP. Grassland CRP signup will be announced later this year.

CRP CONTINUOUS SIGNUP 65 SIGNUP ANNOUNCED

Eligible producers who are interested in submitting an offer on eligible land into a CRP continuous conservation practice are encouraged to submit to FSA by March 20, 2026.  The 2018 Farm Bill required that no more than 27 million cropland acres can be enrolled in CRP, nationwide. Current enrollment in CRP is approximately 26.3 million acres.  To ensure the acreage enrolled does not exceed the statutory limitation, submitted CRP offers will be placed into a batch process, with the first batching process ending on March 20, 2026.

Producers with expiring CRP SAFE Lessor Prairie Chicken (SAFE LPC) and Highly Erodible Land Initiative (HELI) contracts will be receiving a letter regarding options for the expiring contract. For land to be offered into SAFE LPC or HELI it must meet certain requirements to be eligible for enrollment.

• SAFE LPC, the land must physically lay in a Lessor Prairie Chicken Area
• HELI must have an erodibility index number greater than 20.

FSA will determine if the land is eligible and for SAFE LPC, NRCS will determine if the land meets feasibility criteria.

Grassland CRP signup dates have not been announced.

NONINSURED ASSISTANCE PROGRAM DEADLINE

The deadline for purchasing a 2026 NAP policy for spring planted RMA non-insurable crops is Monday, March 16, 2026. To purchase an application for coverage, the cost is $325.00 per crop, per producer. Producers who qualify as beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged or limited resource the application for coverage fee is waived.

Contact your local FSA office for more information.