June 7, 2022

Phase One of USDA’s Emergency Relief Program Available for Those With Federal Crop Insurance

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by natural disaster events in 2020 and 2021 will soon begin receiving emergency relief payments totaling through the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) new Emergency Relief Program (ERP) to offset crop yield and value losses. The total pool of funds available for all of agriculture is roughly $10 billion. Payments to crop producers will be done in two phases.

Phase 1

In phase 1, existing Federal Crop Insurance or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) data is the basis for calculating initial payments. The USDA estimates that phase one ERP benefits will reach more than 220,000 producers who received indemnities for losses covered by federal crop insurance and more than 4,000 producers who obtained NAP coverage for 2020 and 2021 crop losses.   

ERP covers losses to crops, trees, bushes, and vines due to a qualifying natural disaster event in calendar years 2020 and 2021. Eligible crops include all crops for which crop insurance or NAP coverage was available, except for crops intended for grazing. Qualifying natural disaster events include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, and related conditions.  

For drought, ERP assistance is available 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
  • D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity. 

Lists of 2020 and 2021 drought counties eligible for ERP is available on the emergency relief website

To streamline and simplify the delivery of ERP phase one benefits, FSA will send pre-filled application forms to producers where crop insurance and NAP data are already on file. This form includes eligibility requirements, outlines the application process and provides ERP payment calculations. Producers will receive a separate application form for each program year in which an eligible loss occurred. Receipt of a pre-filled application is not confirmation that a producer is eligible to receive an ERP phase one payment. If you have not received forms or are uncertain about your status then reach out to your local county FSA office.

Phase 2

The second phase of both ERP and ELRP programs will fill gaps and cover producers who did not participate in or receive payments through the existing programs that are being leveraged for phase one implementation. When phase one payment processing is complete, the remaining funds will be used to cover gaps identified under phase two.  Rules and procedures for phase 2 have not yet been announced but once they are we will notify all WG members.   

Additional USDA disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool. For FSA and Natural Resources Conservation Service programs, producers should contact their local  USDA Service Center. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent.