The Family Forest Carbon Program – Premium Option is a new opportunity available to all landowners who qualify for the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP). Landowners enrolling in FFCP with this premier option will receive 20% more in financial payments during their FFCP enrollment period, receiving most of the payment in the early years of enrollment. Landowners enrolled in the Premium Option may also be able to access a range of other programs, offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Farm Service Agency (FSA), that can provide additional benefits. 

An additional requirement for landowners to receive the higher payment provided by the Family Forest Carbon Program – Premium Option is to simply apply for a free Farm & Tract Number (FTN) from your local Farm Service Agency office. Landowners will receive information on how to obtain an FTN from their Family Forest Carbon Program account representative. To complete the process, the landowner makes an appointment at their local FSA office, bringing their personal identification documents and proof of property ownership to that appointment. To help with the process, FFCP staff will help provide all the necessary documentation, including a copy of the deed and a property map. Landowners seeking to enroll in FFCP who already a Farm & Tract Number associated with their property simply include their FTN in their program application and automatically receive the Premium Option.  

Other than this one additional requirement, the enrollment process with the Family Forest Carbon Program is exactly the same as the standard FFCP enrollment process. The process to enroll in the Family Forest Carbon Program is straight-forward and we will guide you through every step, helping you with resources to complete the single extra step required for the Premium Option.  

To enroll in FFCP, for both the standard and premium options, landowners select their property on the FFCP website to find out immediately if it qualifies for FFCP. If the property qualifies, the landowner schedules a call with an FFCP representative to ask questions and arrange for a forester to visit the property with the landowner. At this time, the landowner can choose to enroll with the Premium Option, yielding 20% more in payments. 

If the landowner has chosen the Premium Option, we provide instructions on how they can schedule a meeting at their local Farm Service Agency office to complete the separate FTN application process, resulting in an FTN number and yielding access to other beneficial programs offered by the USDA. (Regardless of the timeframe the FSA takes to process the landowner’s FTN application, FFCP’s Premium Option provides 20% higher payments to the landowner, starting with the very first payment after they are approved for enrollment with the FFCP Premium Option.) 

After FFCP enrollment, an FFCP forester will also conduct a land assessment needed for the FSA approval process in order to receive a Farm & Tract Number, simultaneously providing a friendly woods walk to discuss landowner objectives and other opportunities for caring for their forest during their time working with FFCP. The FFCP forester will then help develop a forest management plan that meets the landowner’s needs and property goals. The first disbursal of the premium payment will be delivered once the USDA compliance approval process is complete. 

Interested in learning more? More information on the Family Forest Carbon Program and the Premium Option is available at https://familyforestcarbon.org/how-it-works/   

Want to find out if your property qualifies for FFCP and ask a representative more about the Premium Option, see https://familyforestcarbon.org.