USDA Announces Enrollment Period and Payment Rates for Specialty Crop Farmers

(Washington, D.C., May 29, 2026) - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced payment rates and the enrollment period for the Assistance for Specialty Crops Farmers (ASCF) program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will issue $1.625 billion in payments to eligible specialty crop producers in response to elevated input costs and market disruptions resulting from foreign competitors engaging in unfair trade practices that impeded specialty crop exports. Producers who have a Login.gov account can access and submit their pre-filled application starting June 1, 2026. Producers who do not have a Login.gov account or prefer to enroll in person at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office can request their prefilled application beginning June 8, 2026. The ASCF enrollment period closes on Aug. 7, 2026.

"The Trump administration continues to put Farmers First and is committed to ensuring the economic strength of our specialty crop operations as we continue opening new markets abroad and strengthening demand domestically for American produce," said Secretary Rollins. "Building on the success of the Farmer Bridge Assistance program, we are using an expedited program application and payment process through the One Farmer, One File system to ensure specialty crop producers also receive the necessary financial assistance as quickly as possible, while we work to build a more robust market with lower input costs and more opportunities.

These payments are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and are administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Specialty crop payments are intended to provide financial support to allow producers to pay for production and marketing inputs in the face of significant market disruptions during the 2025 growing season.

How to Apply

Pre-filled applications will be available online to producers with a Login.gov account who timely filed their 2025 crop acreage report for eligible specialty crops. Starting on June 1, 2026, producers who have a Login.gov account can access and submit their pre-filled application from fsa.usda.gov/ascf. Beginning June 8, 2026, producers can request their pre-filled ASCF application from their FSA county office.

The deadline to submit completed ASCF applications is Aug. 7, 2026. Producers can complete their applications online or submit them to their FSA county office.

Payments will be issued as applications are submitted and approved, beginning as early as the first week of signup.

Login.gov

Login.gov is the public's one account for government. Producers can use one account and password for secure, private access to participating government agencies, including FSA.

To apply for ASCF online, producers can start by visiting fsa.usda.gov/ascf to create their Login.gov account. Producers who have an existing Login.gov account can work with FSA using their existing account.

With a secure Login.gov account, producers can be amongst the first to apply for ASCF, allowing them to view, complete, certify, and submit their application as well as track their application and payment status.

For assistance creating a Login.gov account, visit login.gov/help.

Eligibility

Specialty crop acres of eligible crops reported to FSA as an initial, double crop, repeat crop, or subsequent crop by April 24, 2026, will be used to determine ASCF program payments. Acreage that is reported as a cover crop, prevented planted, or with an intended use of grazing, left standing, green manure, silage, forage, volunteer, or experimental will not be used to determine ASCF program payments.

For a list of eligible specialty crops visit fsa.usda.gov/ascf. Specialty crops grown in a controlled environment are not eligible, except for mushrooms.

Crop insurance linkage is not required; however, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new risk management tools provided in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to best protect against future price risk and volatility.

Payment Calculation

FSA used national average revenue per crop as a metric for developing the ASCF program payment categories and payment rates listed below. For a full list of eligible crops under each category, visit fsa.usda.gov/ascf.

• Tier 1 - $650 per acre
  Includes eligible specialty crops with an average annual revenue of more than $10,000 per acre.
• Tier 2 - $225 per acre
  Includes eligible specialty crops with an average annual revenue of more than $2,300 per acre and up to $10,000 per acre.
• Tier 3 - $65 per acre
  Includes eligible specialty crops with an average annual revenue of up to $2,300 per acre.
• Beans and Peas - $25 per acre
  Includes all types of beans and peas that were not eligible for the FBA program.

For more information on how revenue per acre was calculated, visit fsa.usda.gov/ascf.

The ASCF payment limitation is $250,000.

More Information

More information on ASCF is available online at fsa.usda.gov/ascf. Producers can also contact their local FSA county office.

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