Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the Department’s focal point for the nation’s farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs.
Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides financial support for Aquaculture activities through the following programs:
- Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides a risk management tool for aquacultural species, not covered by RMA, which are:
- any species of aquatic organisms grown as food for human consumption
- fish raised as feed for fish that are consumed by humans
- ornamental fish propagated and reared in an aquatic medium.
Contact: Chris Vazquez, Section Head Disaster Assistance Section
- The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP), provides assistance to eligible farm-raised fish producers for:
- Death losses, in excess of normal mortality, of eligible bait fish or game fish caused by an eligible adverse weather or loss condition incurred in the county where the eligible adverse weather or loss condition occurred; and
- Purchased or produced farm-raised fish feed losses for feed that was intended to be fed to eligible farm-raised fish and was damaged because of an eligible adverse weather or loss condition in the county where the eligible adverse weather or loss condition occurred.
- For more information on ELAP-Farm Raised Fish, please view FSA’s ELAP’s Farm-Raised Fish Fact Sheet (PDF, 529 KB).
Contact: Amy Mitchell, Program Manager
- Direct Farm Loans are available for those operations that produce eligible aquatic organisms for food.
- Direct Farm Ownership (FO) provide assistance to eligible aquaculture operations to purchase real estate for land based operations. Loan can be made in participation with other lenders, as a downpayment or the full purchase price if no more than the maximum loan amount, which is currently $600,000. Loan terms can go to a maximum of 40 years but are based on loan type and repayment ability.
Direct Operating Loans (OL) are for the purchase of equipment and supplies necessary to run an aquaculture operation. The length of time is determined by the type of security and the repayment and may be from one to seven years. - Guaranteed Farm Ownership and Operating Loans are loans made by local lenders for similar purposes as the Direct Loans. The loans have higher limits than those made by FSA Directly and are backed up to 95% by FSA against loss.
Contact: Bill Cobb, Deputy Administrator for Farm Loan Programs
The Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) Program provides low-interest financing for aquaculture producers to build, upgrade, or acquire, permanently affixed or portable, new or used farm storage and handling facilities, equipment and handling trucks to store and handle eligible commodities they produce. FSFLs may also be used to purchase storage and handling trucks and/or equipment for maintaining and monitoring the eligible commodity. Aquaculture species, for FSFL purposes, are defined as any species of aquatic organisms grown as food for human consumption, or fish raised as feed for fish that are consumed by humans. For more information on the FSA FSFL Program, please view the Fact Sheet (PDF, 270 KB).
Contact: Toni Williams, Program Manager
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical expertise, conservation planning, and financial assistance for farmers, ranchers and forest landowners wanting to make conservation improvements to their land.
Technical assistance for aquaculture producers is provided in the areas of:
- Agriculture Engineering for aquaculture infrastructure,
- Water Quality technical assistance for both clean water inputs and nutrient management outputs,
- Energy Conservation Engineering,
- Water Management Engineering for water conveyance systems, and
- Wildlife enhancement – both terrestrial and aquatic opportunities.
Contact: Jan Surface, National Water Quality Specialist/Aquatic Ecologist
Financial assistance for eligible aquaculture producers is provided through a variety of programs, including:
- The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits such as improved water and air quality, improved or created wildlife habitat, and mitigation against increasing weather volatility.
- Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) are competitive grants that drive public and private sector innovation in resource conservation. CIG projects inspire creative problem solving that boosts production on farms, ranches, and private forests - ultimately, they improve water quality, wildlife habitat, and other resource concerns.
- The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) promotes coordination of NRCS conservation activities with partners that offer value-added contributions to expand our collective ability to address on-farm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns. Through RCPP, NRCS seeks to co-invest with partners to implement projects that demonstrate innovative solutions to conservation challenges and provide measurable improvements and outcomes tied to the resource concerns they seek to address.
Contact: Gene Kim, Natural Resource Specialist
Risk Management Agency (RMA) provides insurance policies to help aquaculture producers manage risk. Currently RMA offers three insurance products for aquaculture producers.
- Group Risk Plan (GRP) Oysters. This program is a risk management tool to insure against widespread loss of production of oysters in a county. GRP Oysters is currently available in 9 counties in Louisiana.
- Aquaculture Dollar Plan Clams. This program provides inventory-based stock mortality insurance for clam producers in select counties in Massachusetts, South Carolina and Virginia.
- Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP). WFRP provides a risk management safety net for all commodities on the farm under one insurance policy. The whole-farm revenue protection plan is available to alligator, baitfish, clams, fish, oysters, trout, aquatic plants, and watercress producers across the country.
You may view a fact sheet with information on RMA’s insurance policies for aquaculture producers.
Contact: Alexander Sereno