Farmers would be wise to check their inboxes over the holidays. Pre-filled applications for USDA financial assistance will be sent via email or snail mail to eligible recipients in the coming weeks. The mode of delivery will likely depend on how farmers have previously interacted with the Farm Service Agency.
Payment rates will be calculated based on acreage reports as of the close of business Dec. 19. USDA will then take that data, determine the amount each farmer is entitled to and send the application.
“We didn’t want this to be super burdensome,” said Richard Fordyce, USDA undersecretary for farm production and conservation. “If a farmer has his or her acreage report completed, that’s really the only thing that they’re going to need to do until payment rates are determined.”
Once a farmer receives the application, they will need to sign and submit the document. No other data or documentation will be required since the prefilled applications will already include information specific to the farmer’s operation. Payments are set to go out by the end of February.
A bridge to profitability
The farmer assistance payments are part of the $12 billion “bridge payment” program announced Dec. 8 to offset 2025 crop year losses. That program allocates $11 billion to help Title One crop producers as defined by the farm bill.
The remaining $1 billion will go to support specialty crop producers. Details for that program are still being determined. According to Fordyce, USDA is continuing to analyze data to determine how best to allocate the funds. Specialty crop producers who have data on their operation that could assist the agency are encouraged to email it to bridge@usda.gov.
“Once we feel like we’ve received most of what we’re going to get from a data standpoint, we can start digging in and figuring out how we respond,” Fordyce said.
He added that once the plan is complete, payments to specialty crop farmers can go out relatively fast, likely within a couple of months.
USDA still accepting Supplemental Disaster Relief Program applications
USDA will continue accepting applications for the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program Stage 1 and Stage 2 through April 30. SDRP Stage 1 provides relief to indemnified producers who incurred losses due to qualifying disaster events in calendar years 2023 and 2024.
SDRP Stage 2, announced in late November, provides similar assistance to producers who were not indemnified during those crop years. Eligible farmers include those who did not have crop insurance as well as those whose losses were not large enough to trigger an insurance payment.
Those without crop insurance may be required to produce additional information since USDA does not have information for those operations on file. Fordyce encourages farmers applying for the SDRP program to visit the FSA website where they can find a checklist of application requirements.