Yesterday, United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins announced that American farmers who suffered eligible crop loss from natural disasters during 2023 and 2024 can now apply for up to $16 billion in relief through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program. Georgia farmers with eligible losses from Hurricane Helene are strongly encouraged to apply for assistance through SDRP, while the State of Georgia continues negotiating a block grant agreement to cover losses that cannot be addressed through pre-existing USDA disaster programs. The $16 billion allocated by USDA for SDRP represents a significant portion of the $20 billion Congress allocated for natural disaster specific agricultural relief in the American Rescue Act of 2025. Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J Harper issued the following statement praising this recent development:

“I’m incredibly grateful to Secretary Rollins and her team at USDA for acting swiftly to make much-needed Hurricane Helene relief funding for Georgia farmers and producers,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J Harper. “While we continue negotiating hard to secure the best possible block grant agreement for Georgia, today’s announcement is welcome news for our state’s #1 industry and Georgia farm families who can now begin applying for relief.”

USDA Program Details:

SDRP Stage One

FSA is launching a streamlined, pre-filled application process for eligible crop, tree, and vine losses by leveraging existing Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) indemnified loss data. The pre-filled applications will be mailed on July 9, 2025.

Eligibility

Eligible losses must be the result of natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2023 and/or 2024. These disasters include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, and related conditions.

To qualify for drought related losses, the loss must have occurred in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks, D3 (extreme drought), or greater intensity level during the applicable calendar year.

Producers in Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, and Massachusetts will not be eligible for SDRP program payments. Instead, these states chose to cover eligible crop, tree, bush, and vine losses through separate block grants. These block grants are funded through the $220M provided for this purpose to eligible states in the American Relief Act.

How to Apply

To apply for SDRP, producers must submit the FSA-526, Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) Stage One Application, in addition to having other forms on file with FSA.

SDRP Stage One Payment Calculation

Stage One payments are based on the SDRP adjusted NAP or Federal crop insurance coverage level the producer purchased for the crop. The net NAP or net federal crop insurance payments (NAP or crop insurance indemnities minus administrative fees and premiums) will be subtracted from the SDRP calculated payment amount.

For Stage One, the total SDRP payment to indemnified producers will not exceed 90% of the loss and an SDRP payment factor of 35% will be applied to all Stage One payments. If additional SDRP funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.

Future Insurance Coverage Requirements

All producers who receive SDRP payments are required to purchase federal crop insurance or NAP coverage for the next two available crop years at the 60% coverage level or higher. Producers who fail to purchase crop insurance for the next two available crop years will be required to refund the SDRP payment, plus interest, to USDA.

SDRP Stage 2

FSA will announce additional SDRP assistance for uncovered losses, including non-indemnified shallow losses and quality losses and how to apply later this fall.