Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation (Individuals or Households)

Instructions For Form AD-1026

Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification

 

Producers shall use this form to certify compliance with the highly erodible land and wetland conservation provisions as a condition of eligibility for certain USDA programs.  It is not necessary to complete this form if a previously filed AD-1026 is on file in the FSA serving office and there have not been any changes in your farming operation or changes to the previously listed affiliates.

 

Submit the original of the completed form in hard copy or facsimile to the appropriate FSA servicing office. 

 

Customers who have established electronic access credentials with USDA may electronically transmit this form to the USDA servicing office, provided that (1) the customer submitting the form is the only person required to sign the transaction, or (2) the customer has an approved Power of Attorney (Form FSA-211) on file with USDA to sign for other customers for the program and type of transaction represented by this form.

 

Features for transmitting the form electronically are available to those customers with access credentials only.  If you would like to establish online access credentials with USDA, follow the instructions provided at the USDA eForms web site.

 

 

Producers must complete Items 1 through 11, then sign and date in Item 12 as applicable.  Item 13 is for FSA use only.

 

 

Item No.& Field Name	Instruction
1 Producer's Name	Enter your full name or the name of the business entity applying for USDA program benefits.
2 Producer's Identification Number	Enter the last 4 digits of your social security number or the last 4 digits of the entity tax identification number.

 

Item No.& Field Name	Instruction
3 Current Crop Year	Enter the crop year for which benefits are being requested. In most cases it will be the current crop year.  However, if you are applying for program benefits for a past year, enter the specific year applicable to your application.
In certain cases, the information included on form AD-1026A must be reviewed before the questions in Items 4 through 7 can be accurately answered. You may request a copy of your AD-1026A(s), Supplement to AD-1026, from the FSA servicing office that maintains records of your farming interests. The AD-1026A is a computer generated list of farm tracts and fields that have been identified for HELC and WC verification.

 

Item No.& Field Name	Instruction
4 Farming Interests	Enter an “X” in the “YES” or “NO” box.   If “YES” is marked, continue to Item 5.   If “NO” is marked, and you are not a farm loan applicant, proceed to Item 12 for certification signature and date.   If “NO” is marked and you are a farm loan applicant, proceed to Item 5.
5 For farm loan applicants only	Enter an “X” in the “YES” or “NO” box.   This question includes fish production, trees, vineyards, shrubs, building construction or other activities.    Item 5 may be left blank for if not a farm loan applicant.
6 Landlord or Tenant Compliance	Enter an “X” in the “YES” or “NO” box.   Mark “YES” in this block if an agricultural commodity is being produced: 1        on highly erodible fields without applying an approved conservation system or plan or 2        on wetlands converted after December 23, 1985.   Also mark “YES” if wetlands have been converted after November 28, 1990.

 

Item No.& Field Name	Instruction
7 Landlords refusal to comply with HELC requirements	Enter an “X” in the “YES” or “NO” box.   Mark “YES” if your landlord refuses to apply a required conservation system or plan on a highly erodible field on a farm on which you are a tenant.
8 List of Affiliated Persons with farming interests	List all affiliated persons with farming interests.  Page 3 of the form AD-1026 lists the affiliates for each of the types of producer entities. Affiliates with farming interests are also required to complete an AD-1026.   If there are no affiliated persons to list, enter “none” in the space provided.
9 Production of Agricultural Commodities	Enter an “X” in the “YES” or “NO” box.   Mark “YES” if there are any fields which you intend to plant (or planted), an agricultural commodity which has not received a highly erodible land determination from NRCS.   If you check “YES”, FSA will request a HEL determination from NRCS for the specific field(s).

 

Item No.& Field Name	Instruction
10 Drainage Evaluation Questions	Enter an “X” in the “YES” or “NO” box for each of the Items A, B and C.   These questions refer to drainage activity.  If you check “YES” to Items 10A or 10B, FSA will request a Wetland evaluation from NRCS for the specific area listed in Item 11.   A “YES” response to Item 10C (maintenance) does not require a certified wetland determination. NRCS will be notified of your intentions to maintain an existing drainage system.
11 Location of Drainage System	This Item must be completed only if a “YES” was marked in Item 5 or10.  List the Farm number, tract number and field number.  Briefly describe the activity and current land use.  List the location county.
12 Producer’s Signature and Date	Read the Continuous AD-1026 certification statement above Item 12 and sign and date the certification.   You should not sign the AD-1026 if your farming operation is not in compliance with all highly erodible land and wetland conservation provisions.

Item 13 - FSA USE ONLY