EMERGENCY RELIEF
PROGRAM
If you want to know if you were in a designated disaster site, click here:
To access the Technical Assistance request form, click here:
To learn more about the claim process, please click here
01.
DISASTER ASSISTANCE
Emergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process
Agriculture-related disasters and disaster designations are quite common. Many counties in the United States have been designated as disaster areas in the past several years, even in years of record crop production.
The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to designate counties as disaster areas to make emergency (EM) loans available to producers suffering losses in those counties and in counties that are contiguous to a designated county. In addition to EM loan eligibility, other emergency assistance programs, such as Farm Service Agency (FSA) disaster assistance programs, have historically used disaster designations as an eligibility trigger.
If you want to know if you were in a designated disaster site,
02.
FSA PROGRAMS FACT SHEET
FARM SERVICE AGENCY
Outreach, Education, & Technical Assistance
Many counties in the United States have been designated as disaster areas in the past several years, even in years of record crop production. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to designate counties as disaster areas to make emergency (EM) loans available to producers suffering losses in those counties and in counties that are contiguous to a designated county. In addition to EM loan eligibility, other emergency assistance programs, such as Farm Service Agency (FSA) disaster assistance programs, have historically used disaster designations as an eligibility trigger.
03.
PROJECT FACT SHEET
FARM SERVICE AGENCY
Outreach, Education, & Technical Assistance
In April 2023, FLOWER HILL INSTITUTE (FHI) executed a cooperative agreement with Farm Service Agency to provide nationwide Outreach, Education, & Technical Assistance to producers who wish to participate in ERP-Phase 2 and FSA’s other farm funding and disaster assistance programs. To assist in this effort, FHI has partnered, through subaward collaborative agreements, with the following 4 organizations:
LATINO FARMERS & RANCHERS INTERNATIONAL
FARMER VETERAN COALITION
FARMER’S OUTREACH SOLUTIONS
WOMEN IN RANCHING
04.
ERP-2. FACT SHEET
FSA
Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase 2
Outreach, Education, & Technical Assistance
ERP covers losses to crops, trees, bushes, and vines due to a qualifying natural disaster event in calendar years 2020 and 2021. Phase 2 intends to fill additional assistance gaps and cover eligible producers who did not participate in existing risk management programs.
In general, payments for ERP Phase 2 are based on the difference in allowable gross revenue between the selected representative benchmark year(s) and the disaster year(s).
EMERGENCY RELIEF
01.
EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM
FSA Disaster Recovery Assistance for Commodity and Specialty Crop Producers
On September 30, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 117-43), which includes $10 billion in assistance to agricultural producers impacted by wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, winter storms, and other eligible disasters experienced during calendar years 2020 and 2021. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has also made payments to ranchers impacted by drought and wildfire through the first phase of the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP). ERP is another relief component of the Act.
02.
EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM
Drought Eligible Counties in 2020
The Emergency Relief Program (ERP) provides assistance to producers with eligible losses of crops, trees, bushes, and vines due to wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze, including a polar vortex, smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, and related conditions occurring in calendar years 2020 and 2021.
Losses due to drought are only eligible for assistance if any area within the county in which the loss occurred was rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks or a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity.
Counties included in this document have met eligibility criteria for drought in calendar year 2020.
03.
EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM
Drought Eligible Counties in 2021
The Emergency Relief Program (ERP) provides assistance to producers with eligible losses of crops, trees, bushes, and vines due to wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze, including a polar vortex, smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, and related conditions occurring in calendar years 2020 and 2021.
Losses due to drought are only eligible for assistance if any area within the county in which the loss occurred was rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks or a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity.
Counties included in this document have met eligibility criteria for drought in calendar year 2021`.
04.
REVENUE LOSS ASSISTANCE
Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase 2
Emergency Relief Program (ERP) covers losses to crops, trees, bushes and vines due to a qualifying natural disaster event in calendar years 2020 and 2021.
For impacted producers, FSA is administering emergency relief to other crop, high value and specialty crop producers through the following two-phased process:
• Phase 1 leveraged existing Federal Crop Insurance or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) data as the basis for calculating initial payments.
• Phase 2 intends to fill additional assistance gaps and cover eligible producers who did not participate in existing risk management programs.
This two-phased approach enables USDA to streamline the application process to reduce the burden on producers, proactively include underserved producers who have been left out of past relief efforts and encourage participation in existing risk management tools that can help producers handle future extreme weather events.
05.
REVENUE LOSS ASSISTANCE
Emergency Relief Program Phase 2 and Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program Comparison Factsheet
ERP Phase 2 is part of the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, which includes $10 billion in assistance to agricultural producers impacted by expenses associated with losses of eligible crops due in whole or part, to a qualifying disaster event experienced during calendar years 2020 and 2021. ERP Phase 2 provides direct financial assistance to producers who suffered an eligible revenue loss in the applicable disaster year, compared to the benchmark year.
USDA is providing critical support to producers impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak through the Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP). PARP provides direct financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who suffered at least a 15% loss in gross revenue in calendar year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
06.
REVENUE LOSS ASSISTANCE
Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP)
USDA is providing critical support to producers impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak through the Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP). PARP provides direct financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who suffered at least a 15% loss in gross revenue in calendar year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Payments to eligible producers will be based upon a comparison of the producer’s gross revenue from 2020 compared to either 2018 or 2019, as elected by the producer.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting applications for PARP from Jan. 23, 2023 to June 2, 2023.
06.
Top 6 Emergency Relief Program
Checklist Items for Eligible Farmers
FSA recently began mailing 5,200 pre-filled applications to commodity andspecialty crop producers who obtained Noninsured Crop Insurance DisasterAssistance Program (NAP) coverage for the Emergency Relief Program (ERP), anew program designed to help agricultural producers impacted by wildfires,droughts, hurricanes, winter storms, and other qualifying natural disastersexperienced during calendar years 2020 and 2021. This mailing is in addition tothe 303,000 pre-filled applications mailed out in May to producers who had cropinsurance coverage for losses in 2021 and 2021.
DISASTER RELIEF
01.
DISASTER ASSISTANCE
EGSFP - Emergency Grain Storage Facility Assistance Program
The Emergency Grain Storage Facility Assistance Program (EGSFP) provides financial assistance to producers affected in Kentucky, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, and Tennessee to support grain storage capacity and drying and handling needs for the orderly marketing of commodities following the destruction of large commercial grain elevators as a result of extreme weather (tornadoes, derechos, etc.).
This cost-share assistance will support efforts to pay grain producers for losses due to limited marketing and storage opportunities because of destructions caused by eligible disaster events. The Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs (DAFP) may determine if there is a need for EGSFP assistance in other states and regions during the application period.
02.
DISASTER ASSISTANCE
Emergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process
Agriculture-related disasters and disaster designations are quite common. Many counties in the United States have been designated as disaster areas in the past several years, even in years of record crop production.
The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to designate counties as disaster areas to make emergency (EM) loans available to producers suffering losses in those counties and in counties that are contiguous to a designated county. In addition to EM loan eligibility, other emergency assistance programs, such as Farm Service Agency (FSA) disaster assistance programs, have historically used disaster designations as an eligibility trigger.
03.
DISASTER ASSISTANCE
LFP - Livestock Forage Disaster Program
The Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) provides payments to eligible livestock owners and contract growers who have covered livestock and who are also producers of grazed forage crop acreage (native and improved pastureland with permanent vegetative cover, including rangeland managed by a federal agency, or certain crops planted specifically for grazing) that have suffered a loss of grazed forage due to a qualifying drought during the normal grazing period for the county. LFP also provides payments to eligible livestock owners or contract growers that have covered livestock and who are also producers of grazed forage crop acreage on rangeland managed by a federal agency if the eligible livestock producer is prohibited by the federal agency from grazing the normal permitted livestock on the managed rangeland due to a qualifying fire.
The qualifying drought and qualifying grazing losses, and/or notification of prohibition to graze Federal land due to fire, must have occurred in the grazing period and crop year. For grazing losses on rangeland managed by a federal agency, an eligible livestock producer may elect to receive assistance for losses due to drought conditions or fire conditions, if applicable, but not both. LFP is administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
04.
DISASTER ASSISTANCE
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program
The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA), provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops to protect against natural disasters that result in lower yields or crop losses, or prevents crop planting.