CLIMATE CHANGE

ADAPTATION PLAN

July 2022
2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction  3

Climate Change Effects

and Vulnerabilities  6

Climate Adaptation Actions   10

What FSA Has Already Achieved:

A Deeper Dive Into the Conservation

Reserve Program  16

Cross-Cutting Adaptation Issues

and Considerations  17

Table of FSA Adaptation Actions

to Address Climate Change Effects

and Vulnerabilities  19
3

INTRODUCTION

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is committed to 

empowering farmers, ranchers, and foresters to become 

more resilient in the face of climate-induced disasters 

while helping drive innovative solutions to the climate 

crisis. Through the agency’s price support, safety net, 

conservation, disaster assistance, and loan programs, FSA 

staff interface with producers and stakeholders across the 

country, providing FSA the unique opportunity to help 

shape a more sustainable future for American agriculture 

and forestry.

FSA’s history traces back to 1933, when agricultural 

producers were struggling to survive the Great Depression. 

Although the agency has gone through several name 

changes, it has always been defined by its commitment to 

market stabilization and resource conservation. 

Today, FSA’s responsibilities are organized into three 

deputy areas: Farm Programs, Farm Loan Programs, and 

Field Operations. Each of the deputy areas, along with their 

divisions and program areas, play a critical role in helping 

producers and landowners conserve natural resources.

FSA Deputy Areas

FSA’s Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs (DAFP) 

oversees three policy divisions and one automation 

division. The three policy divisions (Conservation, Safety 

Net, Price Support) along with the Program Delivery 

Division are responsible for overseeing and implementing 

policies and procedures that regulate the delivery of FSA 

farm programs. These programs help agricultural 

producers manage market risks, recover from disasters, 

and conserve and protect America’s natural resources.

When it comes to FSA’s work on climate adaptation, each 

Deputy Area plays a key role. Notably, DAFP’s divisions 

each administer a wide variety of programs, each with 

unique climate change adaptation and mitigation 

opportunities. Notable, DAFP’s Conservation Division 

administers FSA’s flagship conservation program, the 

Conservation Reserve Program. Under the CRP umbrella, 

the Conservation Division oversees several distinct 

programs; beyond CRP, the Conservation Division also 

administers key emergency conservation programs, 

3

DEPUTY 

AREAS Farm Programs Farm Loan 

Programs

Field Operations
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including the Emergency Conservation Program and the 

Emergency Forest Restoration Program.

DAFP’s Safety Net Division administers commodity price 

support activities, including the Agriculture Risk Coverage 

and Price Loss Coverage Programs, along with several key 

programs focused on providing assistance to livestock 

producers impacted by disasters. The Safety Net Division 

also administers the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance 

Program (NAP), which provides financial assistance to 

producers of non-insurable crops, to ensure these 

producers can also receive assistance in the face of natural 

disasters that impact crop planting, production, and yield. 

DAFP’s Price Support Division provides assistance through 

marketing assistance loans for key commodities, loan 

deficiency payments, and programs targeted towards 

building resilience in the dairy sector. DAFP has also 

administered—and continues to implement and 

administer—several billions of dollars in ad hoc disaster 

assistance and economic assistance programs.

FSA’s Deputy Administrator for Farm Loan Programs 

(DAFLP) leads the Direct and Guaranteed Farm Loan 

Programs. Through the work of this deputy area and its 

Loan Making, Loan Servicing and Property Management, 

and Program Operations and Appraisal Divisions, FSA 

County Offices make and service direct and guaranteed 

farm ownership and operating, and emergency loans to 

family-sized farmers and ranchers who cannot obtain 

commercial credit from a bank, Farm Credit System 

institution, or other lenders. Guaranteed conservation 

loans are also available regardless of the availability of 

other credit. FSA loans can be used to purchase land, 

livestock, equipment, feed, seed, and supplies. The loans 

can also be used to construct buildings, make farm 

improvements, and promote soil and water conservation 

and protection. FSA loans are often provided to beginning 

and underserved farmers who cannot qualify for 

conventional loans because they have insufficient financial 

resources. FSA also helps established farmers who have 

suffered financial setbacks from natural disasters, or 

whose resources are too limited to maintain profitable 

farming operations. 

FSA’s Deputy Administrator for Field Operations (DAFO) is 

responsible for the supervision and oversight of Farm 

Service Agency State and County Offices and serves as the 

primary liaison between field and headquarters offices on 

agency-wide issues. DAFO staff play a critical role in the 

efficient, effective, and consistent delivery of FSA 

programs, along with essential administrative operations. 

When FSA state and county staff directly help producers 

navigate the diversity of the agency’s farm programs and 

farm loan programs, they establish a critical line of 

customer service. With more than two thousand state and 

county offices throughout the United States, FSA staff are 

the agency’s most important asset to achieving its mission 

and vision. Only through this nationwide network of staff 

can FSA leverage its footprint across rural America to help 

promote climate smart solutions to producers. FSA field 

office staff work closely with producers and stakeholders 

daily across the country, and with the proper marketing 

and outreach, FSA has a unique opportunity to help 

reshape messaging that will help educate our farmers, 

ranchers, and foresters. 

FSA staff across the county, state, and headquarters offices 

also work closely with USDA’s Farm Production and 

Conservation Business Center (FPAC-BC), which is 

responsible for acquisition, human resources, information 

technology and administrative support for program 

implementation, economic and policy analysis, budget, 

reporting, and communications. 

FSA’s Mission and Vision

FSA is guided by a mission to equitably serve all farmers, 

ranchers, foresters, and agricultural partners through the 

delivery of effective, efficient programs. FSA strives to be a 

customer-driven agency with a diverse and multi-talented 

work force dedicated to support an abundant, marketoriented, safe, and affordable food and fiber supply while 

sustaining quality agricultural commodities and achieving 

an economically and environmentally sound future for 

American agriculture. The foundation of FSA’s mission and 

vision rests upon the USDA’s long-standing core values of 

strong ethics, customer service, teamwork, inclusive 

decision-making, and fiscal responsibility.

As the impacts of climate change become more frequent 

and intense, FSA can empower producers to both adapt to 

climate change and develop solutions for climate change 

mitigation. By empowering producers to invest in the 

health of their soil, water, and other natural resources, the 

long-term sustainability of the land can be maintained and 

continue to provide benefits of soil health and carbon 

sequestration for future generations of producers. 

Reducing the vulnerability and increasing the adaptive 

capacity of producers, ranchers, and foresters to climate 

change is what is needed to maintain competitiveness and 

sustainability in the future. FSA’s Climate Adaptation Plan 

discusses the ways in which the agency intends to increase 

resilience and achieve its goals.
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In January 2022, FSA established a steering committee 

comprised of employees from all deputy areas to revise the 

agency’s 2014 Climate Adaptation Plan and expand upon 

USDA’s Action Plan for Climate Adaptation and Resilience. 

The committee worked to determine existing and future 

vulnerabilities, along with actions the agency can take to 

develop an ambitious but feasible 2022 Climate 

Adaptation Plan. The steering committee carefully 

reviewed FSA’s mission, operations, and infrastructure to 

determine the agency’s capacity to support producers 

facing increasingly frequent and intense climate-induced 

disasters. The steering committee also assessed its goals in 

the context of several cross-cutting issues, including 

environmental justice and climate literacy. Notably, FSA 

also evaluated its work within the context of the USDA 

Climate Hubs, which work to support USDA’s departmentwide Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan. 

As the steering committee developed this plan, it remained 

focused on FSA’s commitment to serving all of its 

customers, including those who have been historically 

underserved by the USDA. Ultimately, as FSA works to 

address current and emerging challenges attributable to 

climate change, the agency is striving to help producers 

and landowners manage natural resources in ways that 

support climate change mitigation and adaptation while 

building both on-farm and financial resilience to future 

environmental challenges.
6

CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS AND VULNERABILITIES

6 

VULNERABILITIES

Need to address climate literacy and 

FSA’s capacity to make programs 

adaptation centered.

FSA infrastructure faces risks 

from climate change.

Increased need for improved science, research, and data for 

understanding, measuring, and tracking climate-related 

impacts and outcomes.

Current FSA procedures do not fully integrate climate 

vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning into 

customer-facing services; and current investments need to be 

more adaptable to the impacts of climate change.

FSA does not fully leverage partnerships, networks, and 

collaboration within the Department to address existing 

climate change adaptation needs and innovate when 

considering future actions.

Disproportionate impacts on underserved farmers and 

ranchers, and underserved communities.
7

Vulnerability 1: Need to address 

climate literacy and FSA’s 

capacity to make programs 

adaptation centered.

With over 10,000 employees located in state and county 

offices spanning the United States, FSA is uniquely 

positioned to act as a frontline responder when producers 

feel the immediate and often unexpected impacts of 

climate change. To address Vulnerability 1, FSA must 

prioritize efforts to train, empower, and retain its 

employees. Today, FSA employees across the country face 

heavy workload driven by new pandemic and disaster 

assistance efforts. To this end, FSA will invest in training 

and supporting its employees to deliver programs 

efficiently and effectively while maintaining customer 

service. This will allow employees to maintain a sustainable 

workload over time. 

Vulnerability 2: Increased need 

for improved science, research, 

and data for understanding, 

measuring, and tracking climaterelated impacts and outcomes.

As FSA works to empower its staff with the knowledge and 

tools to respond to climate change, the need for more 

improved science, research, and data will increase. FSA 

staff across divisions and Deputy Areas will need to 

coordinate practices and procedures to effectively assess, 

measure, and track data that can help both the agency and 

its customers better respond to climate-related impacts 

and develop forward-thinking solutions.

Notably, FSA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), is one 

of the largest private-lands conservation programs in the 

United States. Lessons learned from this program can 

improve the agency’s understanding of climate-related 

impacts and outcomes. Specifically, several Monitoring, 

Assessment, and Evaluation (MAE) projects have been 

used to assess the impacts of CRP enrollment on soil 

health, wildlife habitat, water quality, and carbon 

sequestration. The existing and future data collected from 

these projects, along with future MAE projects, will play a 

substantial role in further understanding these linkages 

and directing the practices that are offered under CRP. 

Additionally, as the impacts of climate change intensify, 

data gaps will either emerge or become more apparent 

around crops, price volatility, and yields. FSA must work to 

address data gaps that persist across programs – to 

support both its employees and its customers. For FSA, 

part of the solution lies in working closely and 

collaboratively with its sister agencies, including the Risk 

Management Agency (RMA) and the Natural Resources 

Conservation Service (NRCS), along with other USDA 

agencies and entities like the National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture (NIFA). As FSA works with its partners across 

the Department to better align data, FSA must also 

consider opportunities to build flexibility into its programs 

to better respond to climate stressors. As weather patterns 

continue to change across the country, FSA must critically 

assess certain practices and policies that may be tied to 

historical realities that no longer exist. For instance, 

increasing variability of early-season weather conditions 

may require re-assessment of the feasibility of specific 

planting date requirements and timelines. 

FSA also recognizes the benefits of tracking climaterelated impacts and outcomes through the DAFLP 

information technology and modernization efforts. FSA is 

currently researching opportunities to increase data 

collection and identify and track Farm Loan Program 

funding opportunities that can be specifically geared 

towards achieving environmental benefits.

Vulnerability 3: Current FSA 

procedures do not fully integrate 

climate vulnerability assessment 

and adaptation planning into 

customer-facing services; and 

current investments need 

to be more adaptable to the 

impacts of climate change.

All program areas will need to review their programs and 

services to find ways to better compensate and reward 

producers for climate-smart investments. As climate 

actions and ecosystem services become revenue streams 

for producers, FSA needs to look for ways to provide 

protection for those revenue streams, similar to processes 

by which the agency provides protection from market 

volatilities through its commodity programs. 
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As adverse weather events become more frequent and 

extreme, the damage to farmland and forestland increases. 

Increased weather extremes will have significant budget 

implications for both ad hoc and standing disaster 

programs, such as the Emergency Conservation Program 

(ECP) and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program 

(EFRP), as damage costs increase above historic norms. 

Today, disasters are no longer aberrations but rather part 

of the regular cadence of agricultural production; given this 

new reality, FSA must work to adapt its programs and 

services to address this challenge and ensure producers 

have the tools they need to build resilience. 

One way to begin supporting this work is through pilot 

projects and programs. FSA’s Conservation Division has 

experience piloting programs in key geographic regions 

before releasing them nationwide, through both the Clean 

Lakes, Estuaries, And Rivers (CLEAR30) pilot and the Soil 

Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP) pilot. 

These pilots have demonstrated the value of first testing 

technology and automation before programs are released 

nationwide to all county offices. Pilots also provide the 

opportunity to gain insight from stakeholders, participating 

producers, and FSA employees to determine what should 

be repeated and what should be amended in future, more 

expansive iterations of the pilot. As FSA looks to expand its 

efforts to empower producers to be part of the climate 

solution, the agency can look to developing additional pilot 

projects and programs.

Vulnerability 4: FSA 

infrastructure faces risks 

from climate change.

A changing climate with more intense storms and changing 

weather patterns puts FSA current and future 

infrastructure at risk. This infrastructure includes physical 

structures and facilities, communications systems, 

information technology (IT) systems and components, and 

vehicles within the FSA fleet. Much of the physical 

structures will require a coordinated effort with USDA’s 

Office of Property and Environmental Management 

(OPEM) along with other FPAC agencies, since many 

locations are co-located with NRCS, RMA, Rural 

Development, and state conservation district offices.

FSA will focus ongoing efforts to improve climate 

adaptation and resilience on several current investments. 

FSA will work towards achieving these goals by investing in 

energy and water efficiency, net zero energy facilities, and 

renewable energy projects. The agency is also focused on 

transitioning away from traditional sources of electrical 

energy generation to those originating from agricultural 

products and other renewable sources.

FSA also has an opportunity to improve its sustainability 

through its vehicle fleet. FSA is interested in incorporating 

alternative and renewable fuel sources into the fleet 

composition and is committed to reducing the overall 

number of conventional fuel vehicles, while increasing the 

percentage of low-greenhouse gas emitting sub-compact 

and compact sedans and mid-size SUVs.

Vulnerability 5: FSA does not 

fully leverage partnerships, 

networks, and collaboration 

within the Department to 

address existing climate 

change adaptation needs 

and innovate when 

considering future actions.

Climate adaptation is a relatively new subject for many 

FSA staff, partners, and customers. As a result, the agency 

needs to work to ensure each of the Deputy Areas and 

their divisions have opportunities to collaborate and help 

define FSA’s approach to addressing climate change 

mitigation and adaptation. Close partnerships across 

Deputy Areas and divisions will be necessary to continue 

to promote efforts to both reduce greenhouse gas 

emissions and increase carbon sequestration on working 

lands, while ensuring that producers are building resilience 

to a changing climate. FSA also has the potential to 

collaborate with a wide array of groups and producers to 

better coordinate responses to climate change. 

Beyond its own staff, partners, and customers, FSA must 

also commit to stronger and more creative partnerships 

with other USDA agencies and entities to address existing 

climate change adaptation needs and shape future actions. 

FSA must work closely and collaboratively with existing 

partners such as RMA, NRCS, and the USDA Climate Hubs 

to develop proactive versus reactive strategies to support 

producer-led climate adaptation. Much of this work will 

hinge on improving and aligning data collection, and 

subsequently making sure data analyses are shared across 

USDA agencies.
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Vulnerability 6: Disproportionate 

impacts on underserved 

farmers and ranchers, and 

underserved communities.

Underserved farmers and ranchers, and underserved 

communities in general, are often disproportionately 

impacted by environmental stressors, including pollution, 

increased exposure to extreme weather events, poor air 

quality, habitat fragmentation, and poverty. 

For example, according to the 2017 Agricultural Census, 

Hispanic producers are more likely to raise specialty crops.1

These crops are generally more sensitive to extreme 

weather relative to grain crops. More than other 

commodities, specialty crop production also often requires 

hand-harvesting; farmers continue to face challenges 

accessing a stable workforce, and farmworkers face 

increasing challenges as extreme heat and other climateinduced conditions impact their ability to work safely. 

Climate change has a multiplier effect on these and other 

stressors, so FSA must be prepared to support farmers, 

including underserved farmers, and their workforce, to 

ensure they have equitable access to FSA programs 

and resources.

FSA programs need to be structured in ways that serve 

more diverse types of farmers, farms, and markets, and 

that encourage ongoing and new climate resilient practices 

for producers, particularly in underserved communities. To 

that end, FSA has established several working groups, 

including a working group specifically focused on studying 

diversity, equity, and inclusion issues within Farm Loan 

Programs. In addition, through increased outreach efforts, 

FSA has the opportunity to increase employee and 

producer education on existing barriers to diversity, equity, 

and inclusion, with the goal of ultimately improving both 

program delivery and program participation.

In 2021, Executive Order 14008 established the Justice40 

Initiative to deliver at least 40 percent of the overall 

benefits from federal investments in climate and clean 

energy to historically underserved communities. FSA is 

treating this initiative as an opportunity to think broadly 

about equity in the agency’s programs. FSA is working 

across its entire portfolio to consider program policy, 

procedure, and outreach changes to increase access to its 

resources, reduce barriers and pain points for underserved 

producers, and improve overall customer experience. FSA 

is also considering how its programs impact underserved 

communities as a whole—not just the impact the agency 

has on its customers, but also the downstream economic, 

soil health, and water quality effects that its programs have 

on the communities in which people live.
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CLIMATE ADAPTATION ACTIONS

6

ACTION

AREAS

Enhance FSA climate literacy and 

capacity to make programs 

adaptation centered.

Address the risk that FSA 

infrastructure faces from 

climate change.

Improve science, research, and data for 

understanding, measuring, and tracking climaterelated impacts and outcomes.

Integrate climate vulnerability assessment and 

adaptation planning into customer-facing services

Leverage partnerships, networks, and collaboration 

to address existing climate change adaptation needs 

and innovate when considering future actions.

Address disproportionate impacts on underserved 

farmers and ranchers, and underserved communities.
11

The following section includes actions that FSA is 

proposing to address the vulnerabilities discussed above. 

The action areas are organized around each of the six 

vulnerabilities and will support FSA staff and producers to 

better adapt to climate vulnerabilities. 

Action Area 1: Enhance 

FSA climate literacy and 

capacity to make programs 

adaptation centered.

Vulnerability: Need to address climate literacy and FSA’s 

capacity to make programs adaptation centered.

Key Actions

` Develop climate trainings so that employees can build 

their climate-related resources.

` Develop universal curriculum for onboarding and 

training new employees.

` Develop virtual jump teams to be activated to help 

with disasters.

FSA has a large footprint in rural America and works with 

the agricultural sector on a regular basis. Thus, FSA can 

make significant progress towards its climate goals by 

providing its employees with the knowledge and training 

they need to better discuss climate-smart practices—the 

economics of implementing these practices with producers. 

FSA’s employees are the agency’s greatest assets, and an 

educated employee can be a trusted advisor with 

producers in their county. If FSA staff have the opportunity 

to engage in climate trainings and work with the USDA 

Climate Hubs, they will be better empowered to develop 

climate literacy and serve as a resource to producers 

interested in being part of the climate solution. 

FSA also has an opportunity to build climate literacy into 

new employee onboarding and training. To this end, FSA 

plans to provide a universal curriculum for new employees’ 

during onboarding; this training can then be tracked in 

AgLearn. Employees and supervisors can then work 

together to determine specific goals and metrics related to 

climate literacy; and together monitor success through 

completed trainings. 

FSA also plans to develop virtual jump teams to be 

activated in the wake of natural disasters. These teams will 

add additional personnel and resources when county 

offices need them most. These teams will be vital resources 

to address workload challenges and relieve stress during 

disaster events. In order to support these virtual jump 

teams, FSA will need to develop a process by which 

requests from local offices are flagged for state and 

national leadership. 

Action Area 2: Improve 

science, research, and data for 

understanding, measuring, 

and tracking climate-related 

impacts and outcomes.

Vulnerability: Increased need for improved science, 

research, and data for understanding, measuring, and 

tracking climate-related impacts and outcomes.

Key Actions

` Continue to use Monitoring, Assessment, and 

Evaluation (MAE) of CRP to improve science, 

research, and data.

` Pursue ongoing efforts to quantify the greenhouse 

gas reduction benefits of CRP and subsequently use 

this data to inform a department-wide dashboard on 

CRP greenhouse gas mitigation potential to help 

measure and track the climate-related impacts of 

the program.

` Pursue research opportunities with existing software 

and through future technology and modernization to 

increase data collection and data analyzation with a 

focus on climate-change efforts and the impacts that 

Farm Loan Program participation has on the climate.

` Pursue opportunities to better understand the 

relationship between FSA’s standing disaster 

programs (including LFP, LIP, and NAP, along with its 

ad-hoc disaster assistance programs) and FSA’s 

broader goals around climate change adaptation 

and mitigation.

` Review climate data to determine if dates (such as 

planting dates) in policy are still relevant and if they 

can become more flexible to changing climate needs.

Monitoring, Assessment, and Evaluation (MAE) projects 

help build resilience to climate change across landscapes 

with investments in soil and forest health on Conservation 

Reserve Program (CRP) land. In Fiscal Year 2021, three 

Carbon Monitoring Projects were funded that will assess 

grasslands, forests, and wetlands to measure and monitor 
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soil carbon and climate resilience impacts on CRP. Projects 

will begin soil carbon sampling in 2022, and we plan to 

expand on this work toward the buildout of a national soil 

carbon monitoring network. The information gained from 

these studies will help support USDA tools, including 

DayCent and COMET, that county offices and partners can 

then use to assess carbon sequestration and greenhouse 

gas emissions. FSA will continue to use MAE projects to 

develop new ways to utilize CRP for climate adaptation and 

greenhouse gas mitigation. Ultimately, the data collected 

through the MAE projects will help strengthen current 

estimates on the potential to reduce greenhouse gas 

emissions through climate-smart practices; and FSA will 

work with USDA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer 

(OCIO) to visualize these estimates through a Tableaupowered climate dashboard. This dashboard will more 

effectively communicate the climate-related outcomes of 

CRP to the Office of the Secretary.

FSA also plans to partner with its sister agencies to educate 

and provide information to field staff and producers 

related to ways that Farm Loan Programs can be utilized 

for climate adaptation and the resulting benefits to 

producers’ operations. FSA is researching and developing 

strategies to utilize existing technology, along with 

potential future technology and modernization, to collect 

more data, which can then be analyzed to measure and 

better understand the relationship between Farm Loan 

Program participation and climate outcomes. 

Within FPAC, opportunities exist for DAFP to collaborate 

with EPAD and other agencies to pursue climate-related 

research within several farm programs, including the 

Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Livestock Forage 

Program (LFP), and the Non-insured Crop Disaster 

Assistance Program (NAP). LIP looks at death losses in 

livestock; LFP assesses forage drought loss; and NAP 

determines crop production losses due to natural disasters. 

Research on these programs could be focused on 

investigating how climate impacts affect livestock and crop 

losses; by better understanding current trends, FSA 

program staff may be better equipped to propose and 

develop program flexibilities to better respond and adapt 

to climate stressors. 

FSA will also review climate data to determine if dates 

delineated in policy are still relevant under changing 

climate needs. This may include the dates that define 

grazing seasons, along with planting and harvest dates for 

all crops that are affected by disasters. Additionally, all FSA 

Deputy Areas and divisions are interested in accessing and 

understanding data on the specific crops and crop varieties 

most impacted by climate changes, along with prices and 

yields for those crops. FSA plans to work with USDA 

partners to determine the possibility of providing more 

program eligibility and enrollment flexibility in 

these circumstances. 

Action Area 3: Integrate climate 

vulnerability assessment 

and adaptation planning into 

customer-facing services

Vulnerability: Current FSA procedures do not fully 

integrate climate vulnerability assessment and adaptation 

planning into customer-facing services; and current 

investments need to be more adaptable to the impacts 

of climate change.

Key Actions

` Review all programs to see where policies and can 

incentivize climate-smart agriculture practices, 

provide protection of revenue received from climate 

actions and ecosystem services, and allow FSA to 

become proactive versus reactive to climate events, 

while identifying which programs have the flexibility 

to integrate or enhance climate considerations into 

their work, and which programs will require 

Congressional action to enhance their climate focus.

` Create learning environments within deputy areas 

using pilots.

FSA will review all programs to see where policies and 

procedures may assist with climate-smart agriculture 

practices, provide protection of revenue received from 

climate actions and ecosystem services, and allow 

programs to become proactive versus reactive to climate 

events. FSA will evaluate policy flexibilities that can be 

implemented to address acute climate events. For example, 

FSA will amend the policy handbook for Farm Storage 

Facility Loans (FSFL) to include a change to the FSFL 

application form, CCC-185, to ask the producer if the FSFL 

project will include energy efficient activities. FSA will 

investigate decreasing the FSFL application fee, through a 

regulation update, for producers using energy 

efficient equipment. 

Pilot programs can also help create learning environments 

within Deputy Areas and divisions. FSA staff can develop 

programs and receive feedback from producers and 

employees to determine if a given program would be useful 
13

nationwide. FSA has already begun exploring collaboration 

with RMA to use NAP data for developing new crop 

insurance policies, including the creation of a pilot policy to 

provide an “on-ramp” for Whole Farm Revenue crop 

insurance coverage. FSA and RMA are also discussing 

possible models of risk management that recognize the risk 

benefits of climate-smart practices. Increasing NAP and 

RMA crop insurance participation would result in improved 

resiliency in the event of large-scale natural disasters by 

providing producers with more recovery assistance. In 

turn, producers would have more resources to then invest 

in additional climate smart practices. Conservation 

Division has already been successful with piloting 

programs such as CLEAR 30 and SHIPP, so these pilots 

could be used as an example for other pilot programs. 

Action Area 4: Address the 

risk that FSA infrastructure 

faces from climate change.

Vulnerability: FSA infrastructure faces risks from 

climate change.

Key Actions

` Support fleet resilience through improved tracking of 

utilization standards, service center enhancements, 

use of mobile workstations, and improved fuel 

efficiency and procurement.

` Explore alternative communication systems to have 

multiple forms available.

` Ensure national and regional datasets used in 

identification and assessment of climate change 

impacts are protected from loss.

` Work with FPAC-BC to ensure a comprehensive FPAC 

resilience portfolio exists to provide a unified mission 

area framework for tracking, evaluating, and 

managing risks to facilities and accessibility, including 

via COOP plans.

` Continue the focus on alternative energy sources for 

infrastructure improvements.

Critical to FSA’s continued effectiveness in responding to 

producers’ infrastructure needs. Whereas existing 

infrastructure may be taken for granted on a day-to-day 

basis, emergency circumstances tend to highlight the 

vulnerability of this infrastructure, not only for day-to-day 

activities, but also for carrying out activities that may 

become necessary to respond to extreme weather events. 

Much of this infrastructure has shared needs by 

FPAC sister agencies, as well as partners, such as 

Conservation Districts.

Many of these recommendations will require a coordinated 

effort with NRCS, RMA, FPAC-BC, and the Office of the 

Chief Information Officer, and will rely on guidance from 

the Office of Contracting and Procurement and the Office 

of Property and Environmental Management where 

applicable. Although FSA recommends several actions in 

this area, the agency recognizes that it may not be the lead 

implementing agency for several of these activities and 

must instead offer its assistance and participation in 

activities that would be more appropriately handled by 

the FPAC-BC.

FSA has identified various aspects of infrastructure 

development and deployment that need to adapt to reduce 

ongoing and future vulnerabilities caused by climate 

change, including the importance of maintaining active 

communication channels during disasters. FSA proposes to 

review and identify not only alternative communication 

methods, but also where redundancy in systems can 

maintain communication in the event of loss of another. For 

instance, if communication is compromised, FSA must 

ensure that staff can continue communications with higher 

authorities via another means.

FSA maintains many sources of data housed within IT 

systems, including geospatial data, tabular data used in 

calculations, historical data used for databases, among 

others. Additionally, FSA has agreements with external 

entities that may be the main repository for similar data. 

Here, FSA’s action is twofold. First, data, regardless of 

format, needs to be updated regularly to keep pace with 

climate change. For FSA IT business tools to remain up to 

date, this data must also be updated by data keepers 

outside of FSA. Second, that data must be protected, 

particularly in the face of events that could potentially lead 

to loss of data. Achieving this goal will require not only 

updates and continued protections but also working with 

partners and other outside entities to make sure the same 

level of protection is consistently applied.

FSA proposes that physical structures, such as offices, be 

evaluated through a dashboard to identify vulnerabilities 

and what can be done to adapt. This will also include 

keeping an up-to-date Continuity of Operations Plan 

(COOP). Currently, the COOP is required to be reviewed 

annually. FSA recommends that sections of the COOP be 

identified that need a more frequent cadence of review and 
14

update, such as points of contact. Like physical structures, 

vehicles are a large portion of FSA’s property portfolio 

which can be improved upon. This not only includes 

purchase of alternative energy vehicles, but also careful 

consideration to other forms of transportation and 

emergency backup generators. 

Action Area 5: Leverage 

partnerships, networks, 

and collaboration to 

address existing climate 

change adaptation needs 

and innovate when 

considering future actions.

Vulnerability: FSA does not fully leverage partnerships 

within the Department to address existing climate change 

adaptation needs and innovate when considering 

future actions.

Key Actions

` Partner with other USDA agencies to identify places 

that have been at a higher risk for adverse weather 

events (possibly utilizing loss claim and disaster 

program data) and pre-position assets to manage 

workload increases in those areas.

` Research opportunities for data collection, along with 

ways to incorporate technologies or software by 

sister agencies.

` Develop promotional campaign similar to the soil 

health campaign for climate-smart agriculture 

and forestry.

FSA can improve its services by partnering with agencies, 

such as RMA, NRCS, and USDA Climate Hubs, on several 

fronts, including data collection, as described above. 

Additionally, FSA can leverage partners to promote its 

work and opportunities for producers to sign up for 

programs. USDA successfully established a promotional 

campaign focused on soil health for climate-smart 

agriculture and forestry, and FSA could pursue similar 

campaigns to elevate opportunities at the agency. In doing 

so, the agency can help ensure that messaging and 

outreach from both FSA and its partners are consistent and 

use common language. As part of these campaigns, FSA can 

share success stories, emails, blogs, radio spots, social 

media posts, and fact sheets to promote principles of 

climate-smart agriculture. In any instance where FSA is 

promoting new information, agency headquarters should 

also ensure that program staff develop specific talking 

points for county and state office staff. 

Action Area 6: Address 

disproportionate 

impacts on underserved 

farmers and ranchers, 

and underserved 

communities.

Vulnerability: Disproportionate impacts on underserved 

farmers and ranchers, and underserved communities.

Key Actions

` Create more cooperative partnerships with 

organizations that already have established trusted 

relationships with members of underserved 

communities, such as Tribal nations and third-party 

environmental education and outreach groups, which 

can provide technical assistance and increase the 

impact of FSA’s outreach efforts.

` Recruit members of underserved communities and 

underserved farmers and ranchers to serve as FSA 

Committee members or as advisors to 

FSA Committees.

` Ensure outreach and meaningful engagement with 

vulnerable communities and that recommendations 

they provide are used to update and revise policy 

where possible. 

` Increase awareness, skills, and abilities of FSA staff 

and producers on equity and environmental 

justice issues.

Climate change planning provides an opportunity to take 

immediate and long-term action to strengthen and create 

resilience in ecosystems services, food production, 

conservation, and emergency response in the most 

vulnerable communities, who are often disproportionately 

impacted because of climate change. 

FSA will look at outreach efforts with underserved farmers 

and ranchers, and underserved communities as part of this 

plan. Outreach efforts can be strengthened by creating 

more cooperative partnerships and recruiting diversified 
15

members and advisors for the FSA Committees, which in 

turn can result in recommendations and feedback to revise 

policies where appropriate. 

Working through its outreach office, FSA will also be 

focused on providing employee training to increase 

employees’ awareness related to advancing equity and 

environmental justice. FSA will continue to review efforts 

and acknowledge further development on these topics as 

necessary, while working in close partnership with 

members of the FSA team leading the agency’s 

Justice 40 Initiative. 
16

WHAT FSA HAS ALREADY ACHIEVED: A DEEPER DIVE INTO THE

CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM

As noted above, CRP is one of the world’s largest voluntary 

conservation programs with a long track record of 

preserving topsoil, improving water quality, sequestering 

carbon, and reducing nitrogen runoff, as well as providing 

healthy habitat for wildlife. The voluntary program 

contracts with agricultural producers so that 

environmentally sensitive agricultural land is not farmed or 

ranched, but instead devoted to achieving conservation 

benefits. CRP participants establish long-term, resourceconserving plant species, such as approved grasses and 

trees (known as “covers”) to control soil erosion, improve 

water quality, and develop wildlife habitat. In return, FSA 

provides participants with rental payments and cost-share 

assistance for the length of the program being between 10 

and 15 years. The covers established on private lands 

through CRP provides a unique opportunity for carbon 

sequestration on agricultural land. CRP is a powerful tool 

when it comes to climate mitigation, and acres currently 

enrolled in the program mitigate more than 12 million 

metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).2

FSA’s Conservation Division have been innovative by 

adding climate solutions into the programs that they 

oversee. In fiscal year (FY) 2021 the division was able to 

release through the CRP general and continuous signups a 

Climate Smart Incentive that aims to increase carbon 

sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions 

through increased enrollment in CRP. Climate-Smart CRP 

practices include establishment of trees and permanent 

grasses, development of wildlife habitat, and wetland 

restoration. CRP also increased payment rates from ten 

percent to twenty percent for practices benefiting water 

quality, such as grassed waterways, riparian buffers, and 

filter strips. Conservation Division also moved its State 

Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) program back into 

Continuous CRP to allow for year-round sign up. This same 

team also updated CRP to allow the Highly Erodible Land 

Initiative (HELI) to be available in both the general and 

continuous sign ups.

Grassland CRP is a working lands program, helping 

landowners and operators protect grassland, including 

rangeland and pastureland, 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. In 2021, Conservation Division 

established a minimum Grassland CRP rental rate of $15/

acre across the country and had the largest signup in the 

program’s history. In 2022, Conservation Division once 

again established a high minimum Grassland CRP rental 

rate of $13/acre; signup is ongoing but the team expects 

strong numbers once again. 

In 2021, FSA’s Conservation Division expanded the Clean 

Lakes, Estuaries, And Rivers 30 Pilot Program, called 

CLEAR30, from the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay 

watersheds to a nationwide opportunity. This waterquality focused program allows producers to receive 

incentives for a 30-year commitment to water 

quality practices.
17

CROSS-CUTTING ADAPTATION ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS

Environmental Justice

Executive Order 14008 Tackling the Climate Crisis at 

Home and Abroad talks about securing environmental 

justice and spurring economic opportunity for 

disadvantaged communities that have been historically 

marginalized and overburdened by pollution and 

underinvestment in housing, transportation, infrastructure, 

and health care. These are all important considerations as 

part of the Climate Adaptation Plan. FSA is working to 

incorporate tools (i.e., a Climate and Economic Justice 

Screening Tool) that are being developed in response to 

this order. All Deputy Areas and divisions have been 

assessing opportunities to address environmental justice 

as part of the Justice 40 implementation process. Here are 

a few areas where overlap is occurring: 

` FSA will work closely with FPAC Economic Policy and 

Analysis Division to support the agency’s analysis of 

program impacts on underserved communities;

` Farm Loan Programs has started an IT modernization 

initiative that includes expanding its data collection 

and analytics capabilities. These capabilities will 

improve the ability of Farm Loans to analyze the 

participation level of underserved customers in 

programs that finance climate-smart practices and 

technologies, which may assist in targeting technical 

assistance and outreach. 

` Farm Loan Programs is also developing outreach 

materials tailored to support climate-smart and 

precision agriculture initiatives, including materials 

targeted at increasing awareness on conservation 

loans for wind and solar energy investments. Under 

Direct Operating Loans, the maximum operating loan 

term will be extended to allow additional flexibility for 

the adoption of climate-smart practices. The Farm 

Loan Programs team is also researching the pathways 

to and benefits of expanded use of Direct and 

Guaranteed Conservation Loan Programs, noting that 

use of the Direct Conservation Loan Program would 

require an appropriation.

` In coordination with the FSA Outreach office, the 

Agency will develop employee training on emerging 

agricultural issues and opportunities for working with 

small and diversified operations. All programs will 

look for ways to increase outreach and technical 

assistance to enable program participation; 

` Conservation Division has proposed (and now 

implemented) increasing the ranking factor points in 

Grassland CRP for historically underserved producers 

and communities; 

` FSA will work with its Outreach Office and sister 

agencies to advertise a notice of funding opportunity 

for the Transition Incentive Program. The program 

assists with the transitioning of expiring CRP land 

from an owner or operator to a beginning, veteran, or 

socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher that is not 

their family member, to return land to production for 

sustainable grazing or crop production; 

` ECP will explore the opportunity to increase the 

ability of the program to help producers build more 

resilient operations. Potential activities include:

• Conducting a design/research sprint with limited 

resource and historically underserved 

customers in a disaster-prone area that suffered 

a recent disaster. The learning from the sprint 
18

could be used to pilot a streamlined advanced 

payment process following future disasters that 

result in expedited funds for producers. 

• Training a virtual jump team to send out as surge 

capacity in areas where disasters strike to work 

alongside local county office staff. Training 

would involve ability to do rapid program 

implementations as well as cross-training on use 

of other USDA programs to help producers build 

a more resilient operation in the face of 

future disasters.

Workforce Climate Literacy

FSA considers its employees its greatest asset. Educating 

employees in climate resilience and climate issues facing 

producers and ranchers in their communities will strengthen 

awareness. FSA will work to provide resources to enable 

staff to be an advisor to our producers and ranchers. Climate 

literacy for all employees will be beneficial to deliver 

assistance when dealing with climate extremes, 

especially disasters.

The Office of the Chief Economist’s Climate, Agriculture, 

and Forestry Seminar Series has been shared with staff to 

bolster their climate literacy throughout 2022. The series 

aims to inform USDA employees about the scientific 

foundation of climate. The Administration will consider 

providing training materials in AgLearn that educate 

employees on climate. FSA is also looking at developing 

employee materials and training to help staff understand 

climate issues and how loan products can be used to achieve 

a customer’s environmental and conservation goals.

USDA Climate Hubs

USDA’s Climate Hubs are a unique collaboration across the 

department’s agencies. They are led and hosted by the 

Agricultural Research Service and Forest Service located at 

ten regional locations, with executive committee members 

from agencies such as NRCS, FSA, APHIS, and RMA. The 

Climate Hubs link USDA research and USDA agency 

programs to support regional delivery of timely and 

authoritative tools and information to agricultural producers 

and professionals. Through the Climate Hubs, FSA sees 

opportunities to integrate its work and data with existing 

Climate Hubs tools like Grass-Cast and AgRisk Viewer, to 

better forecast disaster impacts and the need for 

FSA assistance. 

A national survey was conducted by the Climate Hubs, FSA, 

and the University of Vermont. The survey identified three 

potential areas of further collaboration between the Climate 

Hubs and FSA: (1) provide training and support for FSA 

employees to work with and understand weather and 

climate data, tools and resources; (2) better integrate 

specific weather and climate tools into specific FSA program 

areas; (3) hone outreach and education on climate- and 

weather-related issues by linking them to existing programs 

that help producers reduce climate-related risks on their 

land (such as the Conservation Reserve 

Enhancement Program).3

The Climate Hubs have science and data synthesis 

developed into regional assessments for all ten regions. The 

Climate Hubs and FSA can work together to support 

employees and producers as they adapt to more variable 

and extreme weather associated with climate change. FSA 

employees can access timely climate information out to their 

producers. The Climate Hubs have a vast library of resources 

that will provide climate literacy to our employees. FSA will 

assess where the Climate Hubs maps, tools, and technology 

may be integrated into FSA’s programs, loans, and field 

operations. FSA supports the USDA Climate Hubs and will 

continue to work with them to develop tools, trainings, and 

products that are beneficial to our employees and 

our producers.

Footnotes:

1 Census of Agriculture Highlights https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2019/2017Census_Hispanic_Producers.pdf

2

 Farm Service Agency news release April 21, 2021, USDA Expands and Renews Conservation Reserve Program in Effort to Boost Enrollment 

and Address Climate Change.

3

 Wiener, S., Roesch-McNally, G.E., and Schattman, R.E. (2018). National survey of USDA Field Staff on Climate and Weather; Results from a 

survey of Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency Employees. Washington, DC: USDA Climate Hubs.
19

TABLE OF FSA ADAPTATION ACTIONS TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS

AND VULNERABILITIES

VULNERABILITY ACTION TITLE/

DESCRIPTION

TYPE OF

ACTIVITY

LEAD OFFICE TIMEFRAME COORDINATION PROGRESS METRICS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

TO DATE

Vulnerability 1: 

Need to address 

climate literacy and 

FSA’s capability to 

make programs 

adaptation centered.

Develop climate trainings 

so that employees can build 

their climate resources.

Ongoing CD, Chief of Staff 2022 and 

continuous

OCE-OEEP, AgLearn Distributed OCE 

climate seminar series 

to all employees

Universal curriculum for 

onboarding and training 

new employees.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFP, DAFLP 2022 and 

continuous

Internal Develop committee to 

assess

Develop virtual jump teams 

to be activated to help with 

disasters.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFP, DAFLP, 

DAFO

2023 and 

continuous

Internal Develop committee to 

assess

Vulnerability 2: 

Increased need for 

improved science, 

research, and data 

for understanding, 

measuring, and 

tracking climaterelated impacts and 

outcomes.

(continued on next page)

Continue to use 

Monitoring, Assessment, 

and Evaluation (MAE) of 

CRP to improve science, 

research, and data.

Ongoing CD, EPAD 2022 and 

continuous

ARS, NRCS Incorporate results 

of projects into CRP 

program.

Multiple projects 

have been completed 

to bolster climate 

adaptation and 

mitigation with CRP. 

Currently assessing soil 

carbon through three 

projects.

Pursue ongoing efforts to 

quantify the greenhouse 

gas benefits of CRP and 

subsequently use this data 

to inform a departmentwide dashboard on CRP 

GHG mitigation potential 

to help measure and track 

the climate-related impacts 

of the program. 

Ongoing CD, EPAD 2022 and 

continuous

OCE, NRCS Incorporate results 

of projects into CRP 

program and USDA

Pursue research 

opportunities with existing 

software and through 

future technology and 

modernization to increase 

data collection and data 

analyzation with a focus on 

climate-change efforts and 

the impacts that Farm Loan 

Program participation has 

on the climate.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFLP 2022 and 

continuous

FPAC, RMA, Climate 

Hubs

Incorporate results 

into programs and loan 

process where feasible

(continued)
20

VULNERABILITY ACTION TITLE/

DESCRIPTION

TYPE OF

ACTIVITY

LEAD OFFICE TIMEFRAME COORDINATION PROGRESS METRICS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

TO DATE

(continued)

Vulnerability 2: 

Increased need for 

improved science, 

research, and data 

for understanding, 

measuring, and 

tracking climaterelated impacts and 

outcomes.

Pursue opportunities to 

better understand the 

relationship between 

FSA’s standing disaster 

programs (including 

LFP, LIP, and NAP, along 

with its ad-hoc disaster 

assistance programs) and 

FSA’s broader goals around 

climate change adaptation 

and mitigation.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFP, EPAD 2022 and 

continuous

FPAC, RMA, Climate 

Hubs, REE

Incorporate results 

into programs and loan 

process where feasible

Review climate data to 

determine if dates (such as 

planting dates) in policies 

are still relevant and if they 

can become more flexible 

to adapting to changing 

climate needs.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFP, DAFLP 2023 and 

continuous

FPAC, RMA, NRCS, 

Climate Hubs

Incorporate results 

into programs and loan 

process where feasible

Vulnerability 3: 

Current FSA 

procedures do 

not fully integrate 

climate vulnerability 

assessment and 

adaptation planning 

into customer-facing 

services; and current 

investments need to 

be more adaptable to 

the impacts of climate 

change.

Review all programs to 

see where policies and 

procedures may assist with 

climate-smart ag practices, 

provide protection of 

revenue received from 

climate actions and 

ecosystem services, 

and allow programs to 

become more proactive 

versus reactive to climate 

events, while identifying 

which programs have the 

flexibility to integrate 

or enhance climate 

considerations into their 

work and which programs 

will require Congressional 

action.

Ongoing All Continuous Internal Incorporate results 

into programs and loan 

process where feasible

Regular Maintenance, 

Now on Regular Cycle

Create learning 

environments within 

deputy areas using pilot 

programs.

Planned 

and 

proposed

DAFP 2022 and 

continuous

Internal Incorporate results 

into programs and loan 

process where feasible

CD used pilot programs 

with CLEAR30 and 

SHIPP

(continued)
21

VULNERABILITY ACTION TITLE/

DESCRIPTION

TYPE OF

ACTIVITY

LEAD OFFICE TIMEFRAME COORDINATION PROGRESS METRICS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

TO DATE

Vulnerability 4: FSA 

infrastructure faces 

risks from climate 

change.

Support fleet resilience 

through improved 

tracking of utilization 

standards, service center 

enhancements, use of 

mobile workstations, and 

improved fuel efficiency 

and procurement.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFO and FPAC 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC

Explore alternative 

communication systems 

to have multiple forms 

available.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFO and FPAC 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC

Ensure national and 

regional datasets used 

in identification and 

assessment of climate 

change impacts are 

protected from loss.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFO and FPAC 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC

Work with FPAC-BC to 

ensure one FPAC resilience 

portfolio to provide a 

unified mission area 

framework for tracking, 

evaluating, and managing 

risks to facilities and 

accessibility, including via 

COOP plans.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFO, OMS and 

FPAC

2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC

Continued focus on 

alternative energy 

sources for infrastructure 

improvements.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

DAFO and FPAC 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC

(continued)
22

VULNERABILITY ACTION TITLE/

DESCRIPTION

TYPE OF

ACTIVITY

LEAD OFFICE TIMEFRAME COORDINATION PROGRESS METRICS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

TO DATE

Vulnerability 5: 

FSA does not fully 

leverage partnerships, 

networks, and 

collaboration within 

the Department to 

address existing 

climate change 

adaptation needs 

and innovate when 

considering future 

actions.

Partner with other 

agencies within USDA to 

identify areas that have 

been at a higher risk for 

adverse weather events. 

This could be based 

upon loss claims and 

program participation. 

Pre-position assets to 

manage increases in 

workloads related to loss 

adjustments and requests 

for assistance.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

All 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC, RMA, NRCS, 

Climate Hubs

Incorporate results 

into programs and loan 

process where feasible

Research opportunities 

for data collection, and 

ways to incorporate 

technologies or software 

by sister agencies.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

All 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC, RMA, NRCS, 

Climate Hubs

Incorporate results 

into programs and loan 

process where feasible

Develop promotional 

campaign similar to the 

soil health campaign for 

climate-smart agriculture 

and forestry.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

Outreach and 

Public Affairs

2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC Develop committee to 

assess

(continued)
23

VULNERABILITY ACTION TITLE/

DESCRIPTION

TYPE OF

ACTIVITY

LEAD OFFICE TIMEFRAME COORDINATION PROGRESS METRICS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

TO DATE

Vulnerability 6: 

Disproportionate 

impacts on 

underserved farmers 

and ranchers, 

and underserved 

communities.

Create more cooperative 

partnerships with 

organizations that 

already have established 

trusted relationships with 

members of underserved 

communities, such as 

Tribal nations and thirdparty environmental 

education and outreach 

groups, which can provide 

technical assistance and 

increase the impact of 

FSA’s outreach efforts.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

All 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC, FSA

Recruit members of 

underserved communities 

and underserved farmers 

and ranchers to serve as 

FSA Committee members 

or as advisors to FSA 

Committee.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

All 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC, FSA

Ensure outreach and 

meaningful engagement 

with vulnerable 

communities and that 

recommendations they 

provide are used to update 

and revise policy where 

possible.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

All 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC, FSA

Increase awareness, skills, 

and abilities of FSA staff 

and producers on equity 

and environmental justice 

issues.

Proposed 

and 

Ongoing

All 2022 and 

Ongoing

FPAC, FSA
[July 2022]

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provider, employer, and lender.