US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced late last week that the USDA will be issuing a second payment under the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program to eligible producers. The payment will be available to those producers who have approved applications for losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024.
Secretary Rollins said, “President Trump is the most pro-farmer President of our lifetime, and through his leadership, the Administration is supporting farmers through unprecedented international market access, lowered taxes, and improvements to the farm safety net with the Working Families Tax Cuts. By extending the program deadline and making available this additional payment, we are continuing to put farmers first during this difficult farm economy. To help secure the economic viability of disaster-impacted farmers, we’re taking deliberate steps to provide stronger, more meaningful financial support for our nation’s agricultural producers.”
The initial payments under the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program were factored at 35%, but USDA is increasing the payment rate to 70% after further analysis and future payments will also be made using at 70% payment factor. USDA has also extended the original April 30 deadline to August 12, 2026 for both stage 1 and stage 2 SDRP payments.
According to the Department, “Over the past year, the Trump administration and USDA, under the leadership of Secretary Rollins, have supported U.S. farmers and ranchers with over $17.9 billion in supplemental disaster assistance mandated by Congress in the American Relief Act, 2025. To date, USDA has provided over $6.7 billion in SDRP payments, $9.3 billion through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program and nearly $1.9 billion through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program.”
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.