The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that, to date, more than $4 billion in emergency relief payments have been made to farmers who suffered losses to natural disasters in 2020 and 2021.
According to the USDA's website, the $4 billion in payments already issued represent approximately 67% of the more than $6 billion projected to be paid through the first phase of the USDA's Emergency Relief Program (ERP).
“We recognize the financial recovery need is great and worked deliberately to create a program delivery process that would ensure quick payments to producers,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, according to the USDA. “I am extremely proud to share that the strategically streamlined ERP application and program implementation process have yielded the desired results: reduced burdens on and expedited payments to approximately 120,000 disaster-impacted agricultural producers, to date.”
The ERP and the previously announced Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) are funded by the 2021 Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act. The law provided $10 billion for agricultural producers impacted by eligible disasters during calendar years 2020 and 2021.
Pre-filled applications were mailed in late May to producers with crop insurance who suffered losses due to natural disasters in 2020 and 2021. The USDA's Farm Service Agency will be sending approximately 9,000 additional applications to eligible applicants in mid-July.
