Ag News

USDA announces next steps for economic and disaster relief

On March 3, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the USDA’s plan to distribute economic assistance and disaster aid passed by Congress late last year. Speaking at the Commodity Classic in Denver, Rollins also provided an update on the ongoing review of funds authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act.

Rollins also announced the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (E-CAP), the $10 billion economic aid program authorized by Congress in December.

“The state of the Ag economy—especially for row crop producers—is perhaps the worst it’s been in one hundred years,” Rollins said.

Rollins said the department had completed its review and released funds for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). Other USDA programs are still being evaluated.

Congress gave the USDA 90 days to start distributing the first $10 billion in E-CAP funding, and Rollins said the USDA is on track to start taking applications by March 20.

“I have asked my team to think creatively about how to develop a streamlined application process. We don’t want to be your bottleneck. In cases where we have information already on file, a pre-filled application will be sent to you. FSA will use the 2024 acreage reporting data you previously filed to initiate the application process,” Rollins said. “There will also be an opportunity for you to provide this information if you missed the window. You will be asked to review the information, sign and return the completed application back to your local FSA service center. We are also developing tools to provide fair and transparent standards for calculating payments.” 

The secretary noted that the USDA is also working to streamline delivery of $20 million in disaster assistance for losses resulting from weather factors outside farmers’ control.

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