Hoeven: USDA Releases Details on $10 Billion in Market-Based Disaster Assistance, Begins Accepting Applications March 19
Senator Secured Funding in Year-End Legislation to Help Producers Recover from Challenging Markets
WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun accepting applications for the $10 billion in market-based assistance that he worked to secure as part of the year-end legislation in December. Hoeven has been working with Agriculture Secretary Rollins to implement and quickly deliver the assistance, encouraging USDA to utilize a streamlined application process to help ensure an efficient and timely process. At the same time, the senator continues his efforts to secure a new farm bill that makes needed investment in the farm safety net to help prevent the need for future ad-hoc disaster assistance.
Details of the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) are as follows:
- USDA will send producers a pre-filled application based on 2024 acreage reporting data after program signup begins on March 19, 2025.
- Producers who still need to submit their 2024 plant and prevent plant data may do so until the program deadline of August 15, 2025.
- Applications may be submitted online or to local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices.
- USDA aims to start releasing initial payments to producers by March 21, which will come to 85 percent of the total, with a supplemental payment to follow in the summer.
- ECAP assistance will be based on acreage and calculated using a flat payment rate for the eligible commodity multiplied by the eligible reported acres.
- For acres reported as prevented plant, ECAP assistance will be calculated at 50%.
- Eligible commodities include wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans, dry peas, lentils, chickpeas, canola, flax and sunflower, among other crops. Only one application is required for all ECAP eligible commodities.
“This $10 billion in assistance is an important step to help producers recover from the challenging markets and comes as part of our commitment to keep our farmers and ranchers in the game, whether they face natural disasters, challenging markets or trade disputes,” said Senator Hoeven. “We worked to ensure a streamlined process to provide producers with certainty and timely access to assistance. Pre-filled applications will be going out shortly, and Secretary Rollins has committed to getting the funds distributed as quickly as possible, with payments to start going out by March 21.”
Additional information and resources are available to producers on USDA’s website here: https://fsa.usda.gov/ecap. Hoeven also continues working with USDA to advance the $21 billion in weather-related assistance for losses in 2023 and 2024, which includes $2 billion set aside for livestock producers, including those with losses due to wildfires.
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