[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15358-15363]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05672]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency

[Docket ID FSA-2021-0012]


Notice of Funds Availability; Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program 
(SMHPP)

AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.

ACTION: Notification of funding availability.

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SUMMARY: The Farm Service Agency (FSA) published a notice on December 
14, 2021, announcing the availability of $50 million for the Spot 
Market Hog Pandemic Program (SMHPP). This document clarifies hog 
eligibility, documentation requirements, and payment factoring. SMHPP 
assists

[[Page 15359]]

producers who sold hogs through a spot market sale from April 16, 2020, 
through September 1, 2020, the period during which these producers 
faced the greatest reduction in market prices due to the COVID-19 
pandemic. SMHPP excludes non-adult pigs or other swine that were not 
intended for slaughter. SMHPP also excludes hogs sold under contracts 
that had a premium or other formula outside a spot market sale. The 
eligibility requirements, payment calculation, and application 
procedure for SMHPP are included in this notice.

DATES: 
    Funding availability: Implementation will begin March 18, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Graham; telephone: (202) 720-
6825; email: [email protected]. Persons with disabilities who 
require alternative means for communication should contact the USDA 
Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice) or 844-433-2774 (toll-free 
nationwide).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Revision and Clarification

    FSA published the initial notice on December 14, 2021 (86 FR 71003-
71007), which announced the availability of $50 million for SMHPP. In 
response to stakeholder concerns and additional USDA analysis, USDA is 
issuing this document to clarify hog eligibility, documentation 
requirements, and payment factoring. Other provisions of the initial 
notice remain unchanged. This document provides these clarifications by 
incorporating the changes into the text from the prior notice, starting 
with the Background section below. This section explains the 
clarifications and revisions.
    Based upon review and stakeholder feedback, USDA is revising SMHPP 
eligibility to better target the effectiveness of SMHPP. As a result, 
this document revises eligible spot market sales to include additional 
negotiated sales, and third-party intermediary sales as defined in this 
NOFA. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal marketing channels, 
producers sold their hogs either directly or through third-party 
intermediaries to local processors, butchers, individuals, brokers, 
sale barns, or livestock aggregators. The use of third-party 
intermediaries was the only available marketing alternative for many 
producers when access to packers was not feasible due to the pandemic 
and they used these sales avenues rather than depopulation; therefore, 
these sales alternatives are included in SMHPP. The only sales directly 
to packers that are eligible remain those through a negotiated sale. 
Hogs sold through a contract that includes a premium of the spot-market 
price or other formula such as the wholesale cut-out price remain 
ineligible. This document also clarifies that eligible hogs:
     Do not include immature swine (that is, pigs), and
     Must be suitable and intended for slaughter as determined 
by USDA.
    FSA became aware that some producers were confused about the 
eligibility of sales and what information they needed to submit when 
compared to what they had submitted for previous pandemic assistance. 
Therefore, FSA is requiring that all producers provide verifiable or 
reliable documentation of their eligibility of sales to ensure SMHPP 
payment eligibility and to prevent erroneous payments.
    To ensure SMHPP funding availability is disbursed equitably to all 
eligible producers, FSA will issue payments after the application 
period ends. If calculated payments exceed the amount of available 
funding, payments will be factored.
    As a result of these revisions, the SMHPP application period has 
been extended to April 29, 2022.

Background

    The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, Economic Security (CARES) Act (Pub. L. 
116-136) provides funding to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the 
COVID-19 pandemic by providing support for agricultural producers who 
were impacted. The Secretary announced the USDA Pandemic Assistance for 
Producers initiative on March 24, 2021. As a part of that initiative, 
FSA implemented SMHPP, as directed by the Secretary, to make payments 
to producers that sold hogs through a spot market sale from April 16, 
2020, through September 1, 2020, the period in which these producers 
faced the greatest reduction in market prices due to the COVID-19 
pandemic.
    FSA and USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) identified 
negotiated hogs as a sector of the agricultural industry significantly 
impacted by the pandemic that had not been adequately addressed by 
previous pandemic relief programs and experienced the greatest market 
price impacts out of all hog purchase types. Using a price analysis of 
the average daily national negotiated sales during the pandemic 
compared to the daily 5-year average for years 2015 through 2019. FSA 
and AMS determined April 16, 2020, through September 1, 2020, to be the 
period with the greatest market impacts on hogs sold through a 
negotiated sale due to the pandemic. The reduced market prices were a 
result of fewer negotiated hogs being procured, packer production 
decreases due to employee illness, and supply chain issues. This period 
also generally aligns with the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 
(CFAP) 2 eligibility period for swine, which ran from April 16, 2020, 
through August 31, 2020.
    When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal marketing channels, 
including access to packers, producers sold their hogs through cash 
sales to local processors or butchers, direct sales to individuals, and 
third-party intermediaries which, may include, but are not limited to, 
sale barns or brokers. The use of third-party intermediaries was the 
only available marketing alternative for many producers and they used 
these sales avenues rather than depopulation; therefore, these sales 
alternatives are included in SMHPP.
    Direct payments are limited to hog producers located in the United 
States. This assistance will be available to hog producers through 
SMHPP as provided in this notice.
    FSA is administering SMHPP under the general supervision and 
direction of the FSA Administrator and AMS. AMS is providing technical 
assistance to FSA, which includes, but is not limited to, sharing 
expertise on the hog industry regarding the impact of the COVID-19 
pandemic on the industry.

Definitions

    The definitions in 7 CFR parts 718 and 1400 apply to SMHPP, except 
as otherwise provided in this document. The following definitions also 
apply.
    Contract grower means a person or legal entity who grows or 
produces eligible livestock under contract for or on behalf of another 
person or entity. The contract grower's income is dependent upon the 
successful production of livestock or offspring from livestock. The 
contract grower does not have ownership in the livestock and is not 
entitled to a share from sales proceeds of the livestock.
    Hogs means adult swine of an appropriate size and condition for 
slaughter as evidenced by sale and acceptance for slaughter, if 
determined to be reasonable for the size for slaughter for the area 
from April 16, 2020, through September 1, 2020, by the applicable FSA 
county committee.
    Negotiated sale means a sale by a producer of hogs to a packer 
under which the base price for the hogs is determined by seller-buyer 
interaction and agreement on a delivery day. The hogs are scheduled for 
delivery to the packer not more than 14 days after the

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date on which the hogs are committed to the packer. A negotiated 
formula sale is also considered a negotiated sale.
    Negotiated formula sale means a hog or pork market formula sale 
under which:
    (1) The formula is determined by negotiation on a lot-by-lot basis; 
and
    (2) The hogs are scheduled for delivery to the packer not later 
than 14 days after the date on which the formula is negotiated and the 
hogs are committed to the packer.
    Ownership interest means to have either a legal ownership interest 
or a beneficial ownership interest in a legal entity. For the purposes 
of administering SMHPP, a person or legal entity that owns a share or 
stock in a legal entity that is a corporation, limited liability 
company, limited partnership, or similar type entity where members hold 
a legal ownership interest and shares in the profits or losses of such 
entity is considered to have an ownership interest in such legal 
entity. A person or legal entity that is a beneficiary of a trust or 
heir of an estate who benefits from the profits or losses of such 
entity is considered to have a beneficial ownership interest in such 
legal entity.
    Packer means a packer as defined in section 201 of the Packers and 
Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 191). Therefore, packer means any person 
engaged in the business:
    (a) Of buying livestock in commerce for purposes of slaughter;
    (b) Of manufacturing or preparing meats or meat food products for 
sale or shipment in commerce; or
    (c) Of marketing meats, meat food products, or livestock products 
in an unmanufactured form acting as a wholesale broker, dealer, or 
distributor in commerce.
    Pig an immature, non-adult swine weighing less than 120 pounds.
    Producer means a person or legal entity who has ownership of the 
hogs and whose production and facilities are located in the United 
States.
    Reliable record means any non-verifiable record available that can 
reasonably be used to substantiate the eligible hog sales and how 
prices were determined for the sale, as determined acceptable by the 
FSA county committee.
    Sold means the producer and the buyer agreed on the negotiated 
price through a spot market sale, and the producer delivered the hogs 
within the time of that agreement. For SMHPP, a hog is considered sold 
on the date of the agreement, rather than when the hog or payment is 
delivered.
    Spot market sale means hogs marketed for slaughter to an individual 
or through a negotiated sale or through an intermediary who interacts 
with the buyer on behalf of the seller, which may include, but is not 
limited to, sale barns, brokers, or other intermediaries as determined 
by DAFP.
    Swine means domesticated omnivorous pig, hog, or boar.
    United States means all 50 states of the United States, the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and any other 
territory or possession of the United States.
    Verifiable record means a document provided by the producer that 
can be verified by the FSA county committee through an independent 
source and can be used to substantiate the eligible hog sales and how 
prices were determined for the sale.

Eligible Hog Sales

    Eligible hogs are hogs sold through a spot market sale by producers 
from April 16, 2020, through September 1, 2020. FSA is providing 
assistance for these sales because USDA has determined producers that 
sold hogs through a spot market sale were affected by the greatest 
reduction in market prices for swine producers due to the COVID-19 
pandemic during this period.
    The hogs must have been physically located in the United States at 
the time of sale and advertised or offered as ready for slaughter.

Ineligible Hog Sales

    Ineligible hog sales include:
    (1) Any other types of sales identified by the AMS Livestock 
Mandatory Reporting (LMR), including: Formulas linked to futures or 
formulas based on the cutout based on the wholesale meat prices, such 
as other market formula and swine or pork market formula,
     Packer-owned swine.
    (2) Contracts that include a premium above the spot market price; 
and
    (3) Sales of either pigs or hogs that are marketed for purposes 
other than slaughter, such as for breeding stock or to grow out.

Eligible Producers

    An eligible producer is a person or legal entity who has ownership 
of the eligible hogs and whose production and facilities are in the 
United States.
    To be eligible for SMHPP, a producer must be any of the following:
    (1) Citizen of the United States;
    (2) Resident alien, which for purposes of this subpart means 
``lawful alien'' as defined in 7 CFR part 1400;
    (3) Partnership of citizens or resident aliens of the United 
States;
    (4) Corporation, limited liability company, or other organizational 
structure organized under State law solely owned by U.S. citizens or 
resident aliens; or
    (5) Indian Tribe or Tribal organization, as defined in section 4(b) 
of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 5304).
    Eligible producers must have sold the hogs through a spot market 
sale during the time frame of April 16, 2020, through September 1, 
2020.

Ineligible Producers

    Ineligible producers include:
    (1) Contract growers;
    (2) Federal, State, and local governments, including public 
schools; and
    (3) Packers.

Application Process

    FSA will accept applications from December 15, 2021, through April 
29, 2022. To apply for SMHPP, eligible producers must submit a complete 
form FSA-940, Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program (SMHPP) Application. 
Applications may be submitted to any FSA county office in person or by 
mail, email, facsimile, or other methods announced by FSA.
    Producers must also submit all the following items, if not 
previously filed with FSA:
     Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet for new customers or 
existing customers needing to update their customer profile;
     Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual or 
legal entity as provided in 7 CFR part 1400;
     Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities (if 
applicable);
     Form CCC-941, Average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) 
Certification and Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information, for the 
2020 program year for the person or legal entity, including the legal 
entity's members, partners, shareholders, heirs, or beneficiaries as 
provided in 7 CFR part 1400;
     Form FSA-1123, Certification of 2020 Adjusted Gross 
Income, if applicable; and
     A highly erodible land conservation (sometimes referred to 
as HELC) and wetland conservation certification as provided in 7 CFR 
part 12 (form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and 
Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification for the SMHPP producer and 
applicable affiliates.
    Producers must submit all required eligibility documentation 
specified

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above, as applicable, no later than 60 days from the date a producer 
signs and submits the form FSA-940. If the producer does not timely 
submit the required eligibility forms, or a member who is required to 
submit the form AD-1026 does not do so, FSA will not issue a payment. 
When the other required eligibility forms are not timely submitted for 
a member of a legal entity, FSA will reduce the payment based on the 
member's ownership interest in the legal entity.
    All producers must provide documentation to support the accuracy of 
information provided on the application, including to substantiate the 
number of hogs reported on the application that were sold through a 
spot market sale and how the price was determined for the sale. The 
supporting documentation must be verifiable or reliable records that 
substantiate the reported number of hogs sold through a spot market 
sale and how the price was determined for the sale. Producers who apply 
for SMHPP after the publication of this document are required to submit 
supporting documentation to FSA within 15 days from submitting the FSA-
940 to FSA or the application will be disapproved. For producers who 
applied for SMHPP prior to the publication of this document, FSA will 
notify producers and request supporting documentation to verify the 
sales of hogs sold through a spot market sale. The documentation must 
be submitted to FSA within 30 days from the request or the application 
will be disapproved by FSA.

Payment

    SMHPP payments compensate eligible hog producers for hogs sold 
through a spot market sale from April 16, 2020, through September 1, 
2020. To simplify administration of SMHPP, FSA and AMS have determined 
a single payment rate of $54 per head.
    USDA calculated the average daily difference in the negotiated 
sales price during the applicable time frame, compared to the daily 5-
year average for negotiated sales prices during April 16 through 
September 1 for years 2015 through 2019. The average daily difference 
was equal to $77 per hog based on the average carcass weight that was 
submitted to AMS through livestock mandatory reporting.
    The SMHPP payment rate of $54 per head is equal to the $77 per head 
minus the CFAP 2 rate of $23 per head. CFAP 2 paid for the highest hog 
inventory from April 16, 2020, through August 31, 2020. CFAP 2 was 
available to all swine producers who qualified under the terms and 
conditions of such program and the application period for CFAP 2 was 
extended, ending October 12, 2021, to allow additional time for all 
eligible producers to apply. SMHPP is therefore not intended to cover 
pandemic impacts that were or could have been compensated under CFAP 2; 
accordingly, the CFAP 2 hog payment rate of $23 per head has been 
deducted from the calculated payment rate for SMHPP.
    SMHPP payments will be calculated by multiplying the number of head 
of eligible hogs, not to exceed 10,000 head, by the payment rate per 
head of $54. FSA will issue payments to eligible producers after the 
application period ends. If calculated payments exceed the amount of 
available funding, payments will be factored. SMHPP is not subject to 
payment limitations.

Provisions Requiring Refund to FSA

    In the event that any application for a SMHPP payment resulted from 
erroneous information reported by the producer, the payment will be 
recalculated, and the producer must refund any excess payment to FSA, 
including interest to be calculated from the date of the disbursement 
to the SMHPP producer. If, for whatever reason, FSA determines that the 
producer misrepresented the total hogs sold through a spot market sale, 
the application will be disapproved, and the producer must refund the 
full SMHPP payment to FSA with interest from the date of disbursement. 
Any required refunds must be resolved in accordance with 7 CFR part 3.

Miscellaneous Provisions

    A person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or general 
partnership, is ineligible for SMHPP payments if the person's or legal 
entity's average adjusted gross income (AGI), using the average of the 
adjusted gross incomes for the 2016, 2017, and 2018 tax years, exceeds 
$900,000 as described in 7 CFR part 1400, subpart F, unless the 
exception described below applies. With respect to joint ventures and 
general partnerships, this average AGI provision will be applied to 
members of the joint venture and general partnership. Average AGI 
provisions are applicable to members, partners, stockholders, heirs, 
and beneficiaries with an ownership interest in a legal entity, 
including a general partnership or joint venture who are at or above 
the fourth level of ownership in the business structure. The eligible 
hog producer's payment will be reduced by the portion of a payment 
attributed to a member who exceeds the average $900,000 AGI limitation 
or is otherwise ineligible for payment.
    A person or legal entity whose average AGI exceeds $900,000 may 
otherwise be eligible for SMHPP payments if the 2020 AGI alone is less 
than $900,000. In order to qualify for this exception to the average 
AGI limitation, persons or legal entities must submit form FSA-1123 to 
certify that their 2020 AGI is not more than $900,000 and also provide 
a certification from a licensed CPA or attorney attesting to the 
accuracy of the person's or legal entity's certification.
    A payment made to a legal entity will be attributed to those 
members who have a direct or indirect ownership interest in the legal 
entity unless the payment of the legal entity has been reduced by the 
proportionate ownership interest of the member due to that member's 
ineligibility.
    Attribution of payments made to legal entities will be tracked 
through four levels of ownership in legal entities as follows:
     First level of ownership: Any payment made to a legal 
entity that is owned in whole or in part by a person will be attributed 
to the person in an amount that represents the direct ownership 
interest in the first-level or payment legal entity;
     Second level of ownership: Any payment made to a first-
level legal entity that is owned in whole or in part by another legal 
entity (referred to as a second-level legal entity) will be attributed 
to the second-level legal entity in proportion to the ownership of the 
second-level legal entity in the first-level legal entity; if the 
second-level legal entity is owned in whole or in part by a person, the 
amount of the payment made to the first-level legal entity will be 
attributed to the person in the amount that represents the indirect 
ownership in the first-level legal entity by the person;
     Third and fourth levels of ownership: Except as provided 
in the second-level of ownership bullet above, any payments made to a 
legal entity at the third and fourth levels of ownership will be 
attributed in the same manner as specified in the second-level of 
ownership bullet above; and
     Fourth level of ownership: If the fourth level of 
ownership is that of a legal entity and not that of a person, a 
reduction in payment will be applied to the first-level or payment 
legal entity in the amount that represents the indirect ownership in 
the first-level or payment legal entity by the fourth level legal 
entity.
    Payments made directly or indirectly to a person who is a minor 
child will

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not be combined with the earnings of the minor's parent or legal 
guardian.
    A producer that is a legal entity must provide the names, 
addresses, ownership share, and valid taxpayer identification numbers 
of the members holding an ownership interest in the legal entity. 
Payments to a legal entity will be reduced in proportion to a member's 
ownership share when a valid taxpayer identification number for a 
person or legal entity that holds a direct or indirect ownership 
interest, at or above the fourth level of ownership in the business 
structure, is not provided to USDA.
    If an individual or legal entity is not eligible to receive SMHPP 
payments due to the individual or legal entity failing to satisfy some 
other payment eligibility provision such as AGI or conservation 
compliance provisions, the payment made either directly or indirectly 
to the individual or legal entity will be reduced to zero. The amount 
of the reduction for the direct payment to the producer will be 
commensurate with the direct or indirect ownership interest of the 
ineligible individual or ineligible legal entity.
    General requirements that apply to other FSA-administered commodity 
programs also apply to SMHPP, including compliance with the provisions 
of 7 CFR part 12, ``Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation,'' 
and the provisions of 7 CFR 718.6, which address ineligibility for 
benefits for offenses involving controlled substances. Appeal 
regulations specified in 7 CFR parts 11 and 780 and equitable relief 
and finality provisions specified in 7 CFR part 718, subpart D, apply 
to determinations under SMHPP. The determination of matters of general 
applicability that are not in response to, or result from, an 
individual set of facts in an individual participant's application for 
payment are not matters that can be appealed. Such matters of general 
applicability include, but are not limited to, the determination of the 
applicable time period for eligible spot market sales and the payment 
rate for SMHPP.
    Participants are required to retain documentation in support of 
their application for 3 years after the date of approval. Participants 
receiving SMHPP payments or any other person who furnishes such 
information to USDA must permit authorized representatives of USDA or 
the Government Accountability Office, during regular business hours, to 
enter the agricultural operation and to inspect, examine, and to allow 
representatives to make copies of books, records, or other items for 
the purpose of confirming the accuracy of the information provided by 
the participant.
    A producer may file an application with an FSA county office after 
the SMHPP application deadline, and in such case the application will 
be considered a request to waive the deadline. The Deputy Administrator 
for Farm Programs, FSA (Deputy Administrator), has the discretion and 
authority to consider the case and waive or modify application 
deadlines and other requirements or program provisions not specified in 
law, in cases where the Deputy Administrator determines it is equitable 
to do so and where the Deputy Administrator finds that the lateness or 
failure to meet such other requirements or program provisions do not 
adversely affect the operation of SMHPP. Although producers have a 
right to a decision on whether they filed applications by the deadline 
or not, producers have no right to a decision in response to a request 
to waive or modify deadlines or program provisions. The Deputy 
Administrator's refusal to exercise discretion to consider the request 
will not be considered an adverse decision and is, by itself, not 
appealable.
    Any payment under SMHPP will be made without regard to questions of 
title under State law and without regard to any claim or lien. The 
regulations governing offsets in 7 CFR part 3 apply to SMHPP payments.
    In either applying for or participating in SMHPP, or both, the 
producer is subject to laws against perjury and any penalties and 
prosecution resulting therefrom, with such laws including, but not 
limited to, 18 U.S.C. 1621. If the producer knowingly makes any untrue 
verbal or written declaration, certification, statement, or 
verification that the producer when applying for or participating in 
SMHPP, or both, then the producer is guilty of perjury (except as 
otherwise provided by law) and may be fined, imprisoned for not more 
than 5 years, or both, regardless of whether the producer makes such 
verbal or written declaration, certification, statement, or 
verification within or outside the United States.
    For the purposes of the effect of a lien on eligibility for Federal 
programs (28 U.S.C. 3201(e)), USDA waives the restriction on receipt of 
funds under SMHPP but only as to beneficiaries who, as a condition of 
the waiver, agree to apply the SMHPP payments to reduce the amount of 
the judgment lien.
    In addition to any other Federal laws that apply to SMHPP, the 
following laws apply: 15 U.S.C. 714; and 18 U.S.C. 286, 287, 371, and 
1001.

Paperwork Reduction Act Requirements

    In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
chapter 35), FSA received the OMB approval (control number 0560-0305) 
to cover the SMHPP information collection request under the emergency 
request. FSA will include the increased burden hours of 4,152 to cover 
the additional documentation required to support the completed form 
FSA-940 SMHPP application in the 3-year approval.

Environmental Review

    The environmental impacts have been considered in a manner 
consistent with the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347), the regulations of the Council on 
Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and the FSA regulation 
for compliance with NEPA (7 CFR part 799).
    As previously stated, SMHPP is providing payments to producers that 
sold hogs through a spot market sale from April 16, 2020, through 
September 1, 2020, the period in which these producers faced the 
greatest reduction in market prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 
limited discretionary aspects of SMHPP do not have the potential to 
impact the human environment as they are administrative. Accordingly, 
these discretionary aspects are covered by the FSA Categorical 
Exclusions specified in 7 CFR 799.31(b)(6)(iv) that applies to 
individual farm participation in FSA programs where no ground 
disturbance or change in land use occurs as a result of the proposed 
action or participation; and Sec.  799.31(b)(6)(vi) that applies to 
safety net programs.
    No Extraordinary Circumstances (Sec.  799.33) exist. As such, the 
implementation of SMHPP and the participation in SMHPP do not 
constitute major Federal actions that would significantly affect the 
quality of the human environment, individually or cumulatively. 
Therefore, FSA will not prepare an environmental assessment or 
environmental impact statement for this action and this document serves 
as documentation of the programmatic environmental compliance decision 
for this federal action.

Federal Assistance Programs

    The title and number of the Federal assistance programs, as found 
in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, to which this document 
applies is 10.144--Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program.

[[Page 15363]]

USDA Non-Discrimination Policy

    In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, USDA, its 
Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or 
administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on 
race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including 
gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital 
status, family or parental status, income derived from a public 
assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for 
prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or 
funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and 
complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
    Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of 
communication for program information (for example, Braille, large 
print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the 
responsible Agency or USDA TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 or 844-433-
2774 (toll-free nationwide). Additionally, program information may be 
made available in languages other than English.
    To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA 
Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at https://www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-a-program-discrimination-complaint and 
at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in 
the letter all the information requested in the form. To request a copy 
of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form 
or letter to USDA by mail to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of 
the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, 
Washington, DC 20250-9410 or email: [email protected].
    USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Zach Ducheneaux,
Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
[FR Doc. 2022-05672 Filed 3-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P