Checks mail the last week of January to farmers and ranchers in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming

(News Release) OMAHA, NEBRASKA – January 27, 2022 – Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) is returning more than $296.5 million of its 2021 net income to farmers and ranchers in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Cash-back dividend checks were mailed January 27, 2022, and will be in the hands of the customer-owners shortly. For 18 consecutive years, the financial cooperative has shared its success in the form of cash-back dividends. Since 2004, FCSAmerica has returned more than $2.6 billion to eligible customer-owners.

This year’s cash-back dividend is equal to 100 basis points – or a return of 1% of a customer’s eligible daily 2021 balance with FCSAmerica. In Iowa, this equates to a 2021 payout of $114.5 million. This puts the total net income returned to Iowa farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses in the past 18 years at $1 billion.

The share of the 2021 cash-back dividend going to Nebraska customer-owners is $98.2 for an 18-year total of $792.8 million. South Dakota and Wyoming customer-owners have been mailed $54.39 million and $5.8 million, respectively, in 2021 cash-back dividends. Since 2004, FCSAmerica has returned a total of $505 million to South Dakota and $61.3 million to Wyoming.

“FCSAmerica strives every day to add value to our customer-owners’ operations through expertise, products and services,” said Mark Jensen, president and CEO of FCSAmerica. “Our patronage program is one more way we add value. We are sharing our success in a way that directly benefits our customer-owners, their operations, families and communities.”

The Board of Directors for FCSAmerica also has approved a cash-back dividend to be paid from the cooperative’s 2022 net earnings, the amount of which will be determined in December.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Agricultural producers and landowners can sign up soon for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a cornerstone conservation program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and a key tool in the Biden-Harris Administration effort to address climate change and achieve other natural resource benefits. The General CRP signup will run from Jan. 31 to March 11, and the Grassland CRP signup will run from April 4 to May 13.

“We highly encourage farmers, ranchers and private landowners to consider the enrollment options available through CRP,” said Iowa Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Director Matt Russell. “Last year, we rolled out a better, bolder program, and we highly encourage you to consider its higher payment rates and other incentives. CRP is another way that we’re putting producers and landowners at the center of climate-smart solutions that generate revenue and benefit our planet.”

Producers and landowners enrolled 4.6 million acres into CRP signups in 2021, including 2.5 million acres in the largest Grassland CRP signup in history. There are currently 22.1 million acres enrolled, and FSA is aiming to reach the 25.5-million-acre cap statutorily set for fiscal year 2022.

CRP Signups: 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.  Meanwhile, Grassland CRP is a working lands program, helping landowners and operators protect grassland, including rangeland and pastureland and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as working grazing lands. Protecting grasslands contributes positively to the economy of many regions, provides biodiversity of plant and animal populations and provides important carbon sequestration benefits to deliver lasting climate outcomes.

Alongside these programs, producers and landowners can enroll acres in Continuous CRP under the ongoing sign up, which includes projects available through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE).

Climate Benefits: Last year, FSA enacted a Climate-Smart Practice Incentive for CRP General and Continuous signups, to better target CRP on addressing climate change. This incentive aims to increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CRP’s climate-smart practices include establishment of trees and permanent grasses, development of wildlife habitat and wetland restoration. The Climate-Smart Practice Incentive is annual, and the amount is based on the benefits of each practice type.

Additionally, in order to better target the program toward climate outcomes, USDA invested $10 million last year in the CRP Monitoring, Assessment and Evaluation (MAE) program to measure and monitor the soil carbon and climate resilience impacts of conservation practices over the life of new CRP contracts. This will enable the agency to further refine the program and practices to provide producers tools for increased climate resilience.

More Information on CRP : Landowners and producers interested in CRP should contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more or to apply for the program — for General CRP before the March 11 deadline, and for Grassland CRP before the May 13 deadline. Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email, and other digital tools. Due to the pandemic, some USDA Service Centers are open to limited visitors. Additionally, fact sheets and other resources are available at fsa.usda.gov/crp.