 Minnehaha County USDA Service Center - January 16, 2026 In This Issue: January 19 - USDA Service Center closed in observance of Marin Luther King Jr Day
February 16 - USDA Service Center closed in observance of President's Day Stay informed: sign up for Text Messages-text sdminnehaha to FSANOW (372-669). Commodity Loan (Less than 1 year disbursed) - 4.625% Farm Storage Facility Loan Program: 3-year loan - 3.500%
5-year loan - 3.625%
7-year loan - 3.875%
10-year loan - 4.125%
12-year loan - 4.250% Farm Loan Program Interest Rates: Farm Operating Loans, Direct - 4.625%
Farm Ownership Loans, Direct - 5.625%
Farm Ownership, Joint Financing - 3.625%
Farm Ownership, Down Payment - 1.625%
Emergency Loan, Amount of Actual Loss - 3.750% The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has mailed ballots for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee elections to eligible farmers and ranchers across the country. To be counted, ballots must be returned to the Minnehaha County FSA office or postmarked by Feb. 2, 2026. Each committee is comprised of three to 11 elected members who serve three-year terms. Newly elected committee members will take office March 2, 2026. Minnehaha County committee members play a key role in how FSA delivers disaster recovery, safety-net, conservation, commodity and price support programs, as well as making decisions on county office employment and other FSA program delivery issues. The following producer has been nominated and is running in the election in LAA1, which includes the furthest west townships in Minnehaha County: Sarah VanDerVliet. VanDerVliet is nominated to serve as a committee member for a 3-year term. VanDerVliet resides in Humboldt and has raised cattle and sheep, and produced row crops and hay for 23 years. She has been in education for over 20 years and has served the state and national FFA organization as an FFA Advisor. She has helped with various tasks at the local and county level 4-H Programs. She serves the youth in her church by teaching Sunday School and Youth Group. To be eligible to vote in the county committee elections, producers must participate or cooperate in a USDA program and be assigned to the LAA that is up for election. Each year, at least one Local Administrative Area (LAA) in each COC jurisdiction is up for election on a three-year rotation, and each producer is assigned to vote in a single LAA. A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or received program benefits. Producers can identify LAAs up for election through a geographic information system locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections and may confirm their LAA by contacting their local FSA office. Eligible voters who do not receive a ballot in the mail can request one from the Minnehaha County FSA office at 2408 East Benson Road in Sioux Falls or call 605-330-4515 ext 2. Top of page The Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers two types of set-aside programs to assist FSA direct loan borrowers. The set-aside programs are intended to help distressed borrowers as well as borrowers impacted by natural disasters. Disaster Set-Aside Program The Disaster Set-Aside Program (DSA) assists existing FSA direct loan borrowers who have been impacted by natural disasters. The DSA program provides short-term financial relief by allowing eligible borrowers to delay FSA direct loan payments that are due this year or next year (but not both). You may delay up to one full annual payment per loan and the delayed payment will be moved to the end of the loan term. You will not be required to pay this set-aside installment until the loan's final due date. The principal portion of the amount set-aside will continue to accrue interest at your loan's existing interest rate. To be eligible, borrowers must have operated a farm in a county declared a disaster area or a contiguous county at the time of the disaster. In addition, the borrower's inability to make their upcoming payment must be due to the disaster. To apply for DSA, borrowers must provide their local USDA Service Center with a letter requesting DSA, which must be signed by all parties liable for the debt. The letter must be provided to your local Service Center within eight months of the disaster declaration date. The application process also includes providing your actual production, income, and expense records for the last three years. FSA may also request additional information as needed to make an eligibility decision. Below is a list of the current disaster designations in your area and their respective application deadlines: Current Disaster Designations for Name County Date Declared Code Disaster Description Final Date to Apply DSA 06/11/2025 N1878 Severe Thunderstorms 04/20/2026
And High Winds Distressed Borrower Set-Aside Program FSA Direct Farm Loan Program borrowers whose loans were closed before Sept. 25, 2024, may be eligible for assistance under the Distressed Borrower Set-Aside Program (DBSA). Similar to DSA, DBSA also provides short-term financial relief by allowing eligible borrowers to delay FSA direct loan payments that are due this year or next year (but not both). You may delay up to one full annual payment per loan and the delayed payment will be moved to the end of the loan term. You will not be required to pay this set-aside installment until the loan's final due date. An increased benefit with DBSA is that the principal portion of the set-aside will accrue interest at a reduced rate of 0.125% rather than your loan's existing interest rate. To be eligible for DBSA, the borrower must demonstrate financial distress, but their inability to make the upcoming payment does not need to be due to a disaster. The DBSA application process is similar to DSA as borrowers must provide their local USDA Service Center with a letter requesting DBSA, which must be signed by all parties liable for the debt. The application process also includes providing your actual production, income, and expense records for the last three years. FSA may also request additional information as needed to make an eligibility decision. Important Factors for Both DSA and DBSA: FSA direct loan borrowers are not able to obtain more than one set-aside per loan. Borrowers also cannot obtain both a DSA and DBSA simultaneously on the same loan. In addition, FSA direct loans with less than two years remaining are not eligible for a DSA or DBSA. Other eligibility requirements apply; we encourage you to contact your local Service Center for more information. Both DSA and DBSA are intended to provide short-term relief for situations where borrowers anticipate the ability to resume paying their full annual installment(s) in the following year. If you require a more long-term form of financial relief, FSA has other potential options available through primary loan servicing (PLS). For more information on DSA, DBSA, or PLS, please contact the Minnehaha County Service Center at (605) 330-4515. You may also visit fsa.usda.gov. Additional information, eligibility criteria and program limitations may be found within the Disaster Set-Aside and Distressed Borrower Set-Aside Program fact sheets. USDA announced the next phase in the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program (FBA), the eligible commodity per-acre payment rates. In 2026, $12 billion will be paid to American farmers. Of that amount, $11 billion consists of one-time FBA program payments. Eligible Row Crop Commodities and Payment Rates: Below are the payment rates for the FBA eligible commodities that triggered a payment. Commodity, Per Acre Payment Rates • Barley: $20.51 • Canola: $23.57
• Chickpeas (Large): $26.46 • Chickpeas (Small): $33.36
• Corn: $44.36 • Cotton: $117.35
• Flax: $8.05 • Lentils: $23.98
• Mustard: $23.21 • Oats: $81.75
• Peanuts: $55.65 • Peas: $19.60
• Rice: $132.89 • Safflower: $24.86
• Sesame: $13.68 • Sorghum: $48.11
• Soybeans: $30.88 • Sunflower: $17.32
• Wheat: $39.35 Eligibility, Program Applications, and Crop Insurance Linkage FBA payments are based on 2025 planted acres, Economic Research Service cost of production, and the World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimate Report. Double crop acres, including all initial and subsequently planted crops, are eligible. Prevent plant acres are not eligible. All intended row crop uses are eligible for FBA except grazing, volunteer stands, experimental, green manure, crops left standing and abandoned or cover crops. Crop insurance linkage is not required; however, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new risk management tools provided for in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) to best protect against future price risk and volatility. The OBBBA federal crop insurance improvements include expanding benefits for beginning farmers and ranchers, increasing coverage options, and making crop insurance more affordable. Specialty Crop Assistance Of the $12 billion being provided by the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, up to $11 billion is being directed to eligible row crop producers and the remaining $1 billion of the $12 billion in assistance is reserved for specialty crops and sugar. Timelines for payments to producers of these crops are still under development and require additional understanding of market impacts and economic needs. Producers, including specialty crop producers and stakeholder groups, can submit questions to https://farmerbridge@usda.gov. More information on FBA is available online at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/fba or you can contact your local USDA FSA county office. Top of page Minnehaha USDA Service Center 2408 E Benson Rd
Sioux Falls, SD 57104 Phone: 605-330-4515
Fax: 855-262-0478 | | Service Center Locator https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app | | Farm Service Agency County Executive Director
Ryan Leners
ryan.leners@usda.gov
605-330-4515 ext 2 Farm Loan Manager
Sheila Erwin
sheila.erwin@usda.gov
605-330-4515 ext 2 | NRCS District Conservationist
Daniel Wehmeyer
daniel.wehmeyer@usda.gov
605-330-4515 ext 3 Conservation District Conservation District Manager
John Parker
john.d.parker@sd.nacdnet.net
605-330-4515 ext 3 | | Farm Service Agency County Committee Members: Bonnie Gelderman - LAA1
Joel Hazel - LAA2
Brian Howe - LAA3 (605) 330-4515 ext. 2
sdsiouxfal-fsa@usda.gov | | 
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