“We want to empower farmers, ranchers and landowners to do what they do best – farm the land,” said NRCS Chief Colton L. Buckley. “Farmers’ direct relationship with the land makes them uniquely qualified to guide its stewardship, and we took action to provide regulatory certainty in order to make operational decisions.” Producers rely on certified wetland determinations when making decisions about their agricultural operations, which impacts USDA program eligibility such as farm loans, conservation assistance, crop insurance and commodity programs. Through this interim final rule, NRCS addressed inconsistencies in how wetland determinations have been certified and issued in the past. Specifically, the interim final rule ensures all wetland determinations issued after Nov. 28, 1990, are certified if:the producer was notified of the determination; and the producer was given appeal rights at the time.