More than $1.75 billion in emergency relief payments will start to be distributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to qualified farmers and animal producers, according to an announcement by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. The funds are part of important emergency relief programs aimed at supporting agricultural producers who have faced significant challenges due to natural disasters.
"USDA provides substantial economic support for America’s farmers and ranchers through its critical farm program payments," said Vilsack.
Following the natural disasters of 2020, 2021, and 2022, these much-needed reimbursements aid in the recovery of farming and livestock enterprises. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be providing qualified ranchers with emergency drought and disaster relief totaling more than $581 million in 2021 and 2022.
For losses incurred in 2021, the FSA is ending the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP). The expected cost of ELRP Phase Two payments is $115.7 million. Ranchers who received help through ELRP Phase One and lost grazing acres due to drought and wildfire will shortly receive an extra payout through ELRP Phase Two. This second payment will make up 20% of the 2021 total ELRP Phase One payment. Payments to producers under the ELRP Phase Two program will be automatic and not subject to application.
Through ELRP Phase One, the FSA processed more than 100,000 payments in April 2022, paying eligible ranchers more than $600 million for grazing losses in 2021. Ranchers continued to lose a considerable amount of grazing acres in 2022 as a result of drought and wildfire. Eligible ranchers will receive ELRP disaster assistance payments for increases in supplemental feed costs to help lessen these losses. The FSA will use livestock inventories, forage acreage affected by the drought, restricted animal units, and grazing days as a result of wildfires that ranchers already reported to expedite payments, determine producer eligibility, and calculate the ELRP 2022 payment. The expected cost of the ELRP payments for 2022 losses is $465.4 million, and they will be made automatically without a request.
Additionally, the FSA will be delivering more than $1.17 billion in crop disaster assistance payments to growers of eligible crops who experienced losses as a result of qualifying natural disaster events that occurred in the calendar years 2020 and 2021. Losses are measured as reductions in revenue. The Emergency Relief for Producers (ERP) Phase Two program was primarily designed for farmers who did not have access to federal crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) of the FSA. Under ERP Phase One, FSA employees processed more than 300,000 applications and disbursed more than $7.4 billion to an estimated 217,000 qualifying producers.
These emergency relief payments from the USDA will provide much-needed support to farmers and animal producers who have faced significant challenges due to natural disasters. The funds will help these agricultural producers recover and continue their vital contributions to the nation's food supply.