2026 Guide to Assistance for Ag Producers

Digital 2026 Guide to Assistance for Agricultural Producers of Vermont.pdf

RNRCD Agricutural Technical Assistance

RNRCD provides agricultural technical assistance to farmers and producers within Rutland County in partnership with Poultney Mettowee NRCD. Conservation Districts are non-regulatory entities who are available to advise and support farmers. 

Together our Ag Team provides the following services:

• Free on-farm technical assistance
• Free soil, manure, and forage sampling
• Nutrient Management Plan support
• Conservation Planning
• Grazing plan development
• Grant application support
• Workshops and training events

For agricultural technical assistance, reach out to andie@rnrcd.org.

 

VAAFM Financial Assistance Programs

The Agency of Ag offers a variety of programs to support producers improve or protect water quality through practices such as cover cropping, fencing installation, or structural improvements.

 

FSA Programs and Loans

Find an FSA program or loan

FSA_farm_loan_info_chart (2).pdf

Loan Assistance Tool

 

Getting started with FSA and/or NRCS

1. Establish farm with FSA: Set up a meeting with your local FSA office. You will need to bring the following documentation:

• Copy of Social Security Card
• Copy of deed or other legal document that transferred land ownership to you, with all required signatures and stamps. If you lease, you will need a deed of ownership from the owner and a copy of the lease to verify current operator or tenant.
• If property owned and/or operated through entity (i.e. corporation, LLC, partnership, etc.), copies of official documents must be provided for the entity.
• A map is not required, but is useful for FSA staff

You will complete:

• FSA form AD-2047: Collects personal info such as address, SSN, contact info, etc.
• If applicable: Form CCC-860: If individual or entity is Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer, and/or Rancher Certification
• Form AD-1026: High Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification
• Form CCC-941: Average Adjusted Gross Income. To participate in many programs you cannot have an average adjusted gross income of more than $900,000. To certify this, you file AGI Certificaiton and Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information each year.
• Form CCC-9021: Farm Operating Plan for an Individual, provides information regarding operations structure and contributions of capital, equipment, land, labor, and management
• Form SF-3881/SF-1199A- Payment enrollment form, allows you to set up or change direct deposit information for FSA or NRCS payments
• FSA staff may request additional information as needed

Once the farm is established with the FSA it will be assigned a farm number, which other USDA agencies such as NRCS can use for program applications.

2. Work with the FSA and/or NRCS staff to see what programs are a best fit for you.

If you decide to apply for NRCS programs:

3. Site visit with conservation planner, work together to create a conservation plan

4. Submit an application that will be ranked for funding based on local resource concerns and quality of conservation benefit.

• The Local Fund Pool is one category in which applications are ranked. Each NRCD in Vermont holds a Local Fund Pool to target resource concerns in our region and applicants to this fund pool only rank against other applicants within the district, increasing chances of getting chosen for funding. Every year the NRCDs review the district's priority resource concerns with the community's input via the Locally Led survey and Local Working Group Meeting.

5. If selected for funding, you will be offered a contract to receieve financial assistance. You are not obligated to carry out a contract until you have signed it.

6. Once contract is signed and approved, you can implement the conservation practices as outlined in the contract with the technical assistance and guidance provided by NRCS. Payments for implementation are provided as reimbursement upon successful completion. Some participants may be eligible for up to 50% advanced payment if qualified as Beginning Farmer, Veteran Farmer, Socially Disadvantaged Farmer, or Limited Resource Farmer.

Resources: USDA Fact Sheet, March 2023; UVM Extension, "How to Get Involved with NRCS"