The Chickamauga Nation and USDA Sponsored July 2022 Event with the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Farm Service Administration (FSA), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
These meetings were paid for by a Grant from the NASS. We want to thank Mr. Eugene Young and Ms. Jill Bishop for providing us with a grant to provide outreach to the Citizens of The Chickamauga Nation and to the farmers and ranchers of our local communities.
We also want to thank Ms. Rhonda O'Guinn from the FSA and Mr. Alvin Peer from the NRCS for providing the speakers for each of the meetings in July 2022.
If you were at the Live Meetings, the Q&A sessions were not loud enough to be heard on the recordings so we have removed them and we are including the most popular Q&As from those meetings.
Q. What do we have to do to be included in the 2023 Farm Census?
A. You can send us your Name, Address, Phone Number and E-Mail Address and we will provide it to the NASS for you to be added to their Mailing List to get the Farm Census which will begin being sent out in November 2022.
Q. How do I get a Farm Number for my farm?
A. Contact your county FSA Office and ask to set up an appointment to get your farm number. It normally takes between 30 minutes and an hour.
Q. I have a back yard garden, do I qualify as having a farm?
A. The USDA calls your garden a farm if the amount of costs associated with producing the garden each year (including equipment) and the value of the items produced is about $1,000. To be honest, the cost of a tiller, the gar to run the tiller, the fertilizer, the seeds, the water are all included. Then the value of what you produce if it were to be sold at fair market value. When you add up the cost to produce and the value of the crops, then you realize it is easy to be over $1,000 every year.
Q. How do I start working with the NRCS?
A. Once you have a farm number, contact your county NRCS office and set up an appointment to meet with the NRCS county consultants to begin finding ways the NRCS will be able to assist you as a farmer or rancher.
