Disaster assistance

It’s hard to believe we are halfway through July already. I have no doubt our livestock producers will remember this year as having been difficult to make quality forage due to frequent rain showers. It truly has been a struggle. Many producers in the office are expressing concerns about wrecking forage fields from unavoidable wheel traffic.

We would like to thank all the producers who were proactive with their crop certification signups. It was a challenging spring, no doubt. Farm Service Agency is very busy right now. The much-anticipated rollout of the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program is here. Please see the article below for details. We highly encourage you to talk with your insurance agent prior to submitting an application for the program if you are eligible. They can help you select the disaster loss event that aligns with your crop insurance indemnity. SDRP is a self-certification program. Contact your local office for more information.

Trump administration announces expedited Congressionally-mandated disaster assistance for farmers

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced today that agricultural producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 can now apply for $16 billion in assistance through the SDRP.

To expedite the implementation of SDRP, FSA is delivering assistance in two stages. This first stage is open to producers with eligible crop losses that received assistance under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program during 2023 and 2024. Stage 1 sign-up will start in person at FSA county offices July 10, and prefilled applications are being mailed to producers July 9. SDRP Stage 2 signups for eligible shallow or uncovered losses will begin in early fall.

SDRP Stage 1

FSA is launching a streamlined, prefilled application process for eligible crop, tree and vine losses by leveraging existing NAP and Risk Management Agency indemnified loss data. The prefilled applications will be mailed July 9.

Eligibility

Eligible losses must be the result of natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2023 and/or 2024. These disasters include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought and related conditions.

To qualify for drought-related losses, the loss must have occurred in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks, D3 (extreme drought) or greater intensity level during the applicable calendar year.

How to apply

To apply for SDRP, producers must submit the FSA-526, SDRP Stage 1 application, in addition to having other forms on file with FSA.

SDRP Stage 1 payment calculation

Stage 1 payments are based on the SDRP adjusted NAP or federal crop insurance coverage level the producer purchased for the crop. The net NAP or net federal crop insurance payments (NAP or crop insurance indemnities minus administrative fees and premiums) will be subtracted from the SDRP calculated payment amount.

For Stage 1, the total SDRP payment to indemnified producers will not exceed 90% of the loss and an SDRP payment factor of 35% will be applied to all Stage 1 payments. If additional SDRP funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.

For future insurance coverage requirements, all producers who receive SDRP payments are required to purchase federal crop insurance or NAP coverage for the next two available crop years at the 60% coverage level or higher. Producers who fail to purchase crop insurance for the next two available crop years will be required to refund the SDRP payment, plus interest, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

SDRP Stage 2

FSA will announce additional SDRP assistance for uncovered losses, including non-indemnified shallow losses and quality losses, and how to apply later this fall. Learn more by visiting fsa.usda.gov/sdrp. This announcement follows Secretary Rollins’ comprehensive plan to deliver the total amount of Congressionally-appropriated $30 billion in disaster assistance to farmers and ranchers this year. These programs will complement the forthcoming state block grants that USDA is working with 14 different states to develop. To date, USDA has issued more than $7.8 billion in Emergency Commodity Assistance Program payments to eligible producers. Additionally, USDA has provided over $1 billion in emergency relief through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program to producers who suffered grazing losses due to drought or wildfires in calendar years 2023 and 2024.

USDA disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, Loan Assistance Tool and the FarmRaise online FSA education hub. Payment details will be updated here weekly. For more information, contact your local USDA service center.

Be proud of what you have accomplished this summer. We certainly are proud of you.

Farm Service Agency is an equal opportunity lender. Complaints about discrimination should be sent to: Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 20250. Visit www.fsa.usda.gov for application forms and updates on USDA programs.