The farm number is one of the three ways you identify yourself as a farmer for government purposes. It is also how the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) offices identify your farm for all of their programs. The USDA farm programs are administered on the local level through county-based Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices. The FSA office is where you register to get a farm number. You must have a farm number in order to apply for FSA farm loans, disaster assistance, and crop insurance as well as for NRCS programs like Environmental Quality Incentive Program.

A farm number identifies yourself as a farmer for government purposes. However, the farm number remains associated with the land, not the farmer. Similarly, the history of production remains connected to the farm number. So if you decide to sell the land, the farm number and production history remain part of the value of the land.

Learn more at our blog: Beginning Farmers: How and Why to Get a Farm Number