The Department of Agriculture's new Emergency Relief Program (ERP) has processed more than 255,000 applications and paid more than $6.1 billion to commodity and specialty crop growers to offset qualifying losses from eligible natural disasters in 2020 and 2021, according to an Aug. 4 news release.

"The expedient manner in which these emergency relief programs have been developed and executed ensures swift delivery of program benefits to producers, responsible use of taxpayer dollars and equates to time savings for our customers and for USDA staff,” USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, Robert Bonnie, said in the release.

The agency has streamlined the ERP process while also working to increase responsiveness and work across traditional agency borders, the release stated.

In May, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) delivered pre-filled ERP applications to farmers who grow crops covered by federal crop insurance.

“Reducing the time spent collecting information we already have elsewhere at USDA or through crop insurance means our team has more bandwidth to reach and support new customers," Bonnie said.

Changes in the agency process for relief payments also saved farmers time, according to the release.

"These process improvements also enhanced the customer experience for farmers by reducing the number of producer trips to Farm Service Agency county offices and allowing producers to spend less time completing forms so they could focus more on their agricultural operations,” according to the USDA.