Another update to the farmers.gov online resource will now allow users to conduct more business with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Any farmers and ranchers who are members of an entity, along with individuals and entities with powers of attorney form on file with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will have increased for business transactions through farmers.gov. Online services that were previously available through NRCS’s Conservation Client Gateway will also be moved to farmers.gov in the coming weeks.
“Here at NRCS, we are committed to providing excellent customer service, whether it’s through our network of USDA Service Centers across the country or online at farmers.gov where we have new self-service features related to our conservation programs,” NRCS Acting Chief Kevin Norton said in a news release. “We’re proud to announce that both farmers and ranchers acting as entities as well as those acting on a farmer’s behalf have access to self-service options online.”
Producers and any entities acting on their behalf can now securely interact with NRCS through farmers.gov and sign and download documents, as well as view conservation contract information. Once power of attorney information is filed with FSA, Farmers.gov provides customers with access to their profile and any other profile they have authority over. Customers can access the website’s conservation features through a desktop computer, tablet, or phone.
New self-service features were recently added to farmers.gov back in June, including the ability to request conservation assistance and reference technical terms and submit questions. USDA intends to continue building out the online resource for farmers and ranchers. Planned additions to the self-service features of the website include the ability to report practice completion and request financial assistance. Other future planned additions to the farmers.gov portal include the ability to request practice certification, along with the ability to upload and access conservation practice information and contract documents.
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