Mandated Disaster Assistance for Farmers

• SDRP will be delivered in two stages: Stage 1 and Stage 2

• First stage: open to producers with eligible crop losses that received assistance under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) during 2023 and 2024.

• Stage 1 Signup:

• In-person at FSA county offices began: July 10

• Pre-filled application mailings began July 9

• Stage 1 Payment Calculation

• Payment to indemnified producers will not exceed 90% of the loss and an SDRP payment factor of 35% will be applied to Stage 1 payments.

• If additional funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.

• quirements

• Must purchase federal crop insurance or NAP coverage for the next two available crop years at the 60% coverage level or higher. If you don’t, you’ll have to refund the SDRP payment, plus interest, to USDA.

• Stage 2:

• Additional assistance for uncovered losses, including non-indemnified shallow losses and quality losses will be announced later in the fall with information on how to apply.

• Timeline

• August 19, 2025: The target date to submit final rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

• September 9, 2025: The target date for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance

• September 15, 2025: The target date for sign-up to begin

Eligible Losses Must Be the Result of Natural Disasters occurring in Calendar Years 2023 and 2024:

• Wildfires

• Hurricanes

• Floods

• Derechos

• Excessive Heat

• Tornadoes

• Winter Storms

• Freeze (including a polar vortex)

• Smoke exposure Excessive Moisture

• Qualifying Drought

Example Published in USDA FSA Final Rule

Suppose a producer had a crop insurance policy with a coverage level of 65 percent, and the total administrative fee and premium was $ 3,500. Based on the producer’s approved yield, acres, and applicable price under their insurance policy, the expected value of their crop was $500,000, and the liability was $325,000 (65 percent of the expected value). The producer suffered a crop loss and

their production was valued at $250,000, resulting in a gross indemnity of $75,000. To calculate the producer’s Stage 1 payment, RMA will perform the same calculation that was used to calculate the indemnity based on their loss procedures but using $437,500 (the SDRP factor of 87.5 percent multiplied by the expected value) in place of the liability, such that the value of production ($250,000) is subtracted from $ 437,500 equaling $ 187,500. From that amount, RMA will subtract the net indemnity of $71,500 ($75,000 minus $3,500), resulting in a calculated Stage 1 payment of $116,000 prior to application of the final payment factor (35%) and any other applicable reductions such as the payment limitation reduction.