Farmers who suffered losses to their crops due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 can begin applying for$16 billion in disaster aid payments through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP).

The program, which was included in a package Congress passed last December, will be administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) in two stages.

The first application stage begins this week for farmers with eligible crop losses caused by hurricanes, wildfires, excessive heat, tornadoes, freeze, qualifying drought and other weather events who received assistance under crop insurance or the noninsured crop disaster assistance program.

The second stage will begin in the fall for farmers with eligible shallow or uncovered losses.

Farmers can begin applying for the first stage of payments at local FSA offices. To streamline the process, pre-filled applications are being mailed to eligible farmers.

“American farmers are no stranger to natural disasters that cause losses that leave no region or crop unscathed. Under President Trump’s leadership, USDA has worked around the clock to deliver this relief directly to our farmers,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement. “We are taking swift action to ensure farmers will have the resources they need to continue to produce the safest, most reliable and most abundant food supply in the world.”

Stage One
First-stage payments are based on the SDRP-adjusted federal crop insurance coverage level or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) the farmer 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 One, payments are not to exceed 90% of the loss. If additional SDRP funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.

All farmers who receive a first-round payment are required to purchase federal crop insurance or NAP coverage for the next two crop years at or above the 60% coverage level.

Stage Two
FSA will announce additional SDRP assistance for uncovered losses, including non-indemnified shallow losses and quality losses, and how to apply later this fall.

Additional assistance
An additional $10 billion in assistance through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) is also being distributed by USDA. These funds are available to crop farmers growing commodities with a gross revenue below the cost of production in the 2024 growing year.

To date, USDA has distributed more than $7.8 billion in ECAP payments to over half a million eligible farmers.

The agency also provided more than 1 billion in emergency relief through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program to ranchers who suffered grazing losses due to drought or wildfires in calendar years 2023 and 2024.

More information
For more information about USDA disaster relief programs, visit farmers.gov.