The Farm Service Agency offers a number of programs that serve farmers, including loans, disaster assistance, aerial photography, conservation, and education, to name a few. State offices administer FSA programs. FSA originated in 1935 with the Resettlement Administration (later Farm Security Administration), which assisted farmers during the Great Depression with resettlement, debt adjustment, cooperatives, and other initiatives. In the intervening years, many programs have been made part of FSA (for a complete list, view the agency's history). Currently, FSA's activities are in the following areas: Farm Programs, Farm Loans, Commodity Operations, Management, and State Operations.
FSA acquires satellite imagery through National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP). In addition, FSA provides access to historical aerial photographs of all of the states and territories dating back to 1955. The UHM Library provides online access to FSA aerial photographs of Hawai‘i (look for photo sets with the source USDA).
Waimanalo and Bellows Field in 1963 (FSA)