AD-1026 Instruction

Instructions for 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 of 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 Parts A, B, and C, then sign and date
in 10A and 10C of Part D. Part D 11A and 11B are for FSA use
only.
Instruction
Fld Name/
Item No.
Part A – Basic Information
1
Enter your full name or the name of the business entity applying for
Producer’s
USDA program benefits.
Name
2
Enter last 4 digits of your SSN or tax ID number.
Producer’s
Identification
Number
3
Enter crop year for which benefits are being requested. In most
Crop
cases, it will be the current crop year. However, if applying for
Year
program benefits for a past year, enter the specific year applicable to
the application.
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Instruction
Fld Name/
Item No.
4
Farming
Interests
5
Farming
Interests

List all affiliated persons with farming interests (as owner, operator,
or other producer on any farm). Only affiliated persons with farming
interests are required to complete AD-1026. See number 7 of AD1026 appendix to determine affiliated persons.
Check box:
“A” if you, or any affiliated person, does not have an interest
in land devoted to agriculture. Examples include bee keepers
who place their hives on another person’s land, producers of
crops grown in greenhouses, and producers of aquaculture
and these producers do not own/lease any agriculture land
themselves.
Note: Do not check this box if you share in a crop.
“B” if you, or any affiliated person, does not participate in any
USDA program that is subject to HELC and WC compliance
except Federal Crop Insurance, and only has interest in land
devoted to agriculture which is exclusively used for perennial
crops, except sugarcane, and has not converted a wetland after
February 7, 2014.
Note: All 3 conditions must exist to check this box.
Perennial crops include, but are not limited to, tree fruit, tree nuts,
grapes, olives, native pasture and perennial forage. A producer that
produces alfalfa should contact the Natural Resources Conservation
Service at the nearest USDA Service Center to determine whether
such production qualifies as production of a perennial crop. A crop
list for compliance purposes is located at
www.nrcs.usda.gov/compliance.

If either box “A” or box “B” is checked, go to Part D, read and
complete the certification.
Part B – HELC/WC Compliance Questions
6
ENTER “X” in either the “YES” or “NO” box.
Production
of
Answer “YES” if during the crop year entered in Part A, or the term
Agricultural of a requested USDA loan, if you, did or will plant and produce an
Commodities agriculture commodity on land for which an HEL determination has
not been made.
If “YES” is answered, FSA will request a HEL determination from
NRCS for the specific field(s) provided in Part C.
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Instruction
Fld Name/
Item No.
7
Drainage
Evaluation
Questions

ENTER “X” in either the “YES” or “NO” box for each of the items in
7A, 7B, and 7C. Item 7A, 7B, and 7C questions refer to drainage
activity.
IF…
“Yes” is answered in Item 7A or
7B

8
First time
participant
due to FCIC
reinsured
crop
insurance
and tenant
and landlord
refusal to
comply with
HELC
requirements

THEN…
FSA will request a wetland
evaluation from NRCS for the
specific areas listed in Part C.
“Yes” is answered in Item 7C
a certified wetland determination
(maintenance)
is not required. NRCS will be
notified of the intention to
maintain an existing drainage
system.
ENTER “X” in Box A if you have FCIC reinsured crop insurance and
the filing of this AD-1026 represents the first time the producer in
Part A, including any affiliated person, has been subject to HELC and
WC provisions.
ENTER “X” in Box B if either of the following applies to you for the
specified crop year in Part A Item 3:
is a tenant on a farm that will not be in compliance with
HELC and WC provisions because the landlord refuses to
allow compliance, but other farms associated with that
landlord are in compliance (AD-1026B, must be completed).
is a landlord of a farm that is not or will not be in compliance
with HELC and WC provisions because of a violation by the
tenant on that farm, but other farms not associated with that
tenant are in compliance (AD-1026C, must be completed).

If neither Box A nor Box B are checked proceed to Part C.
Part C – Additional Information
9
This item must be completed only if “YES” was answered in Items 6
Location,
or 7. List farm, tract, and field number in A. Briefly describe activity
activity,
in B. List land use and specify crops in C. List the location county in
current land D. Forward to NRCS the request for determinations only for those
use, of
fields that will be used in the production of an agriculture commodity
applicable
as defined by HELC and WC, or locations specifically identified for
area
wetland determinations in Part B.
Part D – Certifications
10
Read the Certification of Compliance statement and sign and date the
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Instruction
Fld Name/
Item No.
Producer’s
certification.
signature and
date
You should not sign AD-1026 if the producer’s farming operation is
not in compliance with all HELC and WC provisions.
11
This item is for FSA use only.

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