EQIP and WHIP
Historically Underserved Producers Defined

Illinois Fact Sheet

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) continues to address the unique circumstances and concerns of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, as well as beginning and limited resource farmers and ranchers. These groups of farmers and ranchers are referred to as “historically underserved producers” and are eligible to receive a higher dollar amount for their EQIP or WHIP practices. Each historically underserved producer group is defined below to help individuals determine whether or not they qualify as a member of one of these unique groups.

Limited Resource Farmers or Ranchers (LRF) Definition:

A person with direct or indirect gross farm sales not more than the current indexed value in each of the previous 2 years, AND

• A person with a total household income at or below the national poverty level for a family of 4 or less than 50% of the county median household income in each of the previous 2 years.

Note: An entity or joint operation can be a Limited Resource Farmer or Rancher if all individual members independently qualify.

To access a website with a “Limited Resource Farmer and Rancher Self Determination Tool” that allows producers to self-determine if they quality as a LRF, visit www.lrftool.sc.egov.usda.gov/tool.asp. The LFR Tool is easy to use and requires data entry of only 4 factors relative to the location and income of applicants. The data required includes: State, County, Gross Farm Sales and Adjusted Gross Income.

Socially Disadvantaged Farmers, Ranchers or Agricultural Producers (SDA) Definition:

• A farmer/rancher who has been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudices because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities.
• A socially disadvantaged group is a group whose members have been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity of a group, without regard to their individual qualities (note: gender alone is not a covered group). Identified socially disadvantaged groups include:
  1. Blacks or African Americans
  2. American Indians or Alaska Natives
  3. Hispanics
  4. Asians
  5. Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders
• A socially disadvantaged applicant is an individual or entity who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group. For an entity, at least 50% ownership in the farm business must be held by socially disadvantaged individuals.

Beginning Farmers or Ranchers (BF) Definition:

• An individual or entity (this requirement applies to all members of an entity) who has operated a farm or ranch for less than 10 consecutive years, AND
• An individual or entity that will materially and substantially participate in operations of the farm/ranch as detailed below:

1. In the case of a contract with an individual, individually or with immediate family, material and substantial day-to-day labor and management of the farm or ranch, and is consistent with practices in the county or State where farm is located OR
2. In the case of a contract with an entity, all members must materially and substantially participate in operation of the farm/ranch. Material and substantial participation requires that each of the members provide some amount of the management or labor and management necessary for day-to-day activities, such that if each of the members did not provide these inputs, operation of the farm or ranch would be seriously impaired.

Additional Information

If you need more information about EQIP and WHIP, contact the NRCS District Conservationist at your local USDA Service Center (listed in the telephone book under U.S. Department of Agriculture), or contact your local soil and water conservation district. Information also is available on the World Wide Web at: www.il.nrcs.usda.gov/programs.

May 2009

Helping People Help the Land.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Download Printable Fact Sheet

A Printed Version of this fact sheet is available in Adobe Acrobat Format 6.0.

EQIP and WHIP: Historically Underserved Producers Defined Fact Sheet
HistricUndrsvdFrmrs_FS.pdf (PDF, 2MB)

< Back to Fact Sheet Index...