FSA Farm Reconstitution: Form FSA-155, Deadlines, and Base Acres

An FSA farm reconstitution is the paperwork that updates USDA’s farm records when the physical boundaries or the legal ownership of your ground changes. The Farm Service Agency uses it to split one farm into smaller units or merge several tracts into one, so that base acres, yields, and program eligibility stay tied to the correct land and the correct people.¹ The mechanics matter because a reconstitution controls how ARC and PLC payments, CRP contracts, and conservation compliance obligations attach to your acres going forward.

When You Need One

A reconstitution can be started by the farm owner, by the operator with the owner’s written concurrence, or by the county committee itself.² Two situations account for most of them.

A combination is the right form when a producer acquires neighboring land or decides to run multiple tracts as a single operation, or when a landlord consolidates leased parcels under one operator. The point is to bring everything under one Farm Serial Number so reporting, compliance, and payments match how the land actually gets farmed.

A division is the right form when part of a farm is sold, inherited, or leased out to a separate operator. Sell 200 acres off the back half of the place and the base acres and yield history for that ground need to follow the deed. Same story when an estate distributes land among heirs, or when a sole proprietorship restructures into a partnership and assigns different tracts to different partners.

What Can Block a Combination

Combining tracts sounds simple, but the regulations impose several restrictions. Every tract in the proposed combination has to be operated as one farming unit, meaning shared labor, equipment, accounting, and management.³ If the tracts have different owners, all owners must agree in writing, and the operator has to run them together rather than as independent operations.

Geography counts. Tracts in non-contiguous counties can only be combined if the counties are divided by a river, separated by a surveying correction line, or if the land sits within 20 road miles of the other tracts in the unit. A combination is also blocked outright when the tracts carry different ARC or PLC elections. ARC-IC land in one state cannot combine with land in another, and land carrying one valid election for all covered commodities cannot merge with land carrying a different one.³ A few categories are excluded from any farm constitution altogether: leases shorter than one year, federally owned land unless it’s rangeland with no crop base, and state-owned wildlife land unless the former owner holds a lease.

How Base Acres Get Divided

When a farm is split, the county committee has to decide how to distribute base acres among the resulting tracts. Federal regulations establish four methods, applied in a strict order of precedence, and the committee picks the proper method crop by crop.⁴

The estate method is used when settling an estate. Base acres go to the heirs according to a will, as long as the county committee finds the will’s terms clear enough to make a reasonable division. If there is no will or the terms are ambiguous, all heirs or devisees have to agree in writing on the split. An executor’s agreement alone will not do.⁴

The designation by landowner method applies when land changes hands through a sale. Seller and buyer can agree in writing on how base acres are divided. Both parties sign the written designation and file it with the county committee before the transfer of ownership closes.²

The cropland method is used when neither of the first two applies. Base acres are distributed proportionally to each resulting tract’s share of the parent tract’s total cropland. If the parent tract had 1,000 acres of cropland and a new tract gets 400 of those acres, it receives 40 percent of each crop’s base.⁴

The default method is the fallback. Each tract keeps the base acres already attributed to it at the time the reconstitution begins. It applies when tracts are being separated from a farm rather than subdivided internally.⁴

Yields can move too. If the county committee finds that a straight split produced an inequitable distribution given the actual land quality, cropping practices, or type of farming on each tract, it may increase the yield on one resulting farm and decrease it on another by the same amount.⁵ The offset keeps the parent farm’s total yield history intact.

Filing Form FSA-155

The request itself goes on Form FSA-155, “Request for Farm Reconstitution,” filed at your local FSA county office.⁶ The form captures the Farm Serial Numbers, the tract numbers, and whether you want a combination, a division, or both. You’ll identify the tracts being merged or show how an existing tract is being partitioned into new units.

Bring proof of ownership when land has changed hands. The county office will accept a recorded deed, an unrecorded deed if the program doesn’t require recording, a land contract, proof of gift tax, or a real estate tax assessment.⁶ A plat map or survey description helps clarify boundaries, especially when a single tract is being carved into pieces.

Signatures and Powers of Attorney

Every owner of record and every operator involved has to sign the FSA-155 before the county office will process it. Under 7 CFR Part 718, the reconstitution requires the owner’s concurrence.² A spouse may sign on behalf of the other spouse for most FSA documents unless that spouse has filed a written objection with the county office.⁷

If an owner or operator can’t sign in person, Form FSA-211 appoints an attorney-in-fact to act on their behalf for FSA programs.⁸ The power of attorney has to actually cover the transactions involved. You can grant blanket authority for all FSA and CCC actions or restrict it to specific items. Getting signatures lined up before you walk into the county office is the single easiest way to avoid delays.

The August 1 Deadline and the 45-Day Clock

Timing is where producers lose a full year of program benefits. For farms enrolled in ARC or PLC, a reconstitution must be initiated by August 1 of the fiscal year to take effect that same year.² A request counts as initiated only when the FSA-155 has all required signatures and every supporting document, including proof of ownership, is on file. Miss one signature on August 1 and the reconstitution won’t take effect until the next fiscal year.

The Deputy Administrator can grant an exception, but only when the late filing was caused by an administrative problem at the local or national FSA level. Producers have no right to ask for the exception themselves.² Farms enrolled only in CRP, and farms not in ARC or PLC, can be reconstituted at any time during the year without the August 1 constraint.

After a request is initiated, a second clock starts. Every reconstitution has to be completed and approved within 45 calendar days, or the FSA computer system automatically cancels it. The approving official gets a warning at the 40-day mark and can grant one 45-day extension.⁹ Complex divisions with multiple heirs or tracts in different counties often need that extension, so stay in contact with your county office after filing.

What You Get Back

When the committee approves the reconstitution, the agency sends a Notice of Farm Reconstitution (Form FSA-156EZ) and a Base and Yield Notice to all affected owners and operators.¹⁰ Read the FSA-156EZ carefully. It lists the new Farm Serial Numbers, the tract assignments, and the associated acreages. If the base acres or yields don’t match what you expected under the division method used, that same notice documents your appeal rights.

Program Consequences to Check

ARC and PLC Elections Carry Forward

A valid ARC or PLC election survives a reconstitution. Requesting one does not reopen the election window, and every producer on the resulting farm remains bound by the original unanimous, irrevocable choice made during the election period.¹¹ A farm that came out of a parent with a PLC or ARC-CO election cannot switch to ARC-IC.⁵ The same rule blocks combinations of tracts carrying different elections.³

CRP and Out-of-Balance Base Acres

Land enrolled in a Conservation Reserve Program contract adds complexity. If a reconstitution leaves a tract with base acres that exceed its effective cropland (an “out-of-balance” condition), the owner may need to permanently reduce base acres on that tract using Form CCC-505.⁹ Those reduced acres are tracked separately and can potentially be restored when the CRP contract expires or is terminated early. If the operator of a farm with CRP land doesn’t share in the CRP contract under common ownership, the county office will generally avoid dividing that farm. When an owner refuses to sign a new CRP contract, a division may be required.

Conservation Compliance and AD-1026

Any change in farm operations tied to a reconstitution can affect your compliance with Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions. You have to file a revised Form AD-1026 whenever operational changes could affect HELC or WC compliance, and failing to do so can make you ineligible for USDA loans and program payments.¹² The county office also notifies NRCS after any reconstitution so that field boundaries, operator changes, and conservation determinations get updated on the NRCS side.⁹

If You Disagree With the Decision

If the county committee denies the reconstitution, or you disagree with the way base acres were distributed, you have 30 calendar days from the date you receive written notice of the adverse decision to request relief.¹³ If the notice arrives by regular mail, FSA treats it as received seven calendar days after it was mailed. Your 30-day clock runs from whichever date is earlier: actual delivery or that seven-day presumption.

Several paths exist, and picking one can foreclose others:

Reconsideration by the same county committee. Waived if you have already requested mediation or appealed to a higher authority.
Appeal to the state committee, filed in writing with the State Executive Director. Waived if you have already appealed to the National Appeals Division.
Mediation, requested after the adverse decision is issued but before any NAD hearing.
National Appeals Division, a formal administrative appeal outside the FSA chain of command.

Every request has to be in writing.¹³ If the 30th day lands on a weekend or federal holiday, the deadline extends to the close of business on the next working day. The Base and Yield Notice sent with your FSA-156EZ spells out your specific appeal rights, so read it closely before deciding which route to take.

1
Farmers.gov. Crop Acreage Reporting Information
2
eCFR. 7 CFR Part 718 Subpart C – Reconstitution of Farms, Allotments, Quotas, and Base Acres
3
eCFR. 7 CFR 718.201 – Farm Constitution
4
eCFR. 7 CFR 718.206 – Determining Farms, Tracts, and Base Acres When Reconstitution Is Made by Division
5
Farm Service Agency. Base Acres and Yields (3-ARCPLC)
6
Farm Service Agency. 2-CM – Farm Reconstitutions
7
eCFR. 7 CFR Part 718 – Provisions Applicable to Multiple Programs
8
USDA Farm Service Agency. Instructions for FSA-211 Power of Attorney
9
Farm Service Agency. Farm Records and Reconstitutions (10-CM Revision 2)
10
Farm Service Agency. Farm Records and Reconstitutions for Current Year (10-CM Revision 1)
11
eCFR. 7 CFR 1412.71 – Election of ARC or PLC
12
Farmers.gov. Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification (Form AD-1026)
13
eCFR. 7 CFR Part 780 – Appeal Regulations