Emergency Relief Program ERP

Emergency Relief Program (ERP)

Disaster Recovery Assistance for Commodity

and Specialty Crop Producers

Background

On September 30, 2021, President Biden

signed into law the Extending Government

Funding and Delivering Emergency

Assistance Act (P.L. 117-43), which includes

$10 billion in assistance to agricultural

producers impacted by wildres, droughts,

hurricanes, winter storms, and other eligible

disasters experienced during calendar years

2020 and 2021. The Farm Service Agency

(FSA) has also made payments to ranchers

impacted by drought and wildre through

the rst phase of the Emergency Livestock

Relief Program (ELRP). ERP is another relief

component of the Act.

Overview

ERP covers losses to crops, trees, bushes

and vines due to a qualifying natural

disaster event in calendar years 2020 and

2021.

For impacted producers, FSA will be

administering emergency relief to row crop

and specialty crop producers through the

following two-phased process:

• Phase 1 will leverage exisng

Federal Crop Insurance or

Noninsured Crop Disaster

Assistance Program (NAP)

data as the basis for calculang

inial payments.

• Phase 2 will be intended to ll

addional assistance gaps and

cover eligible producers who did

not parcipate in exisng risk

management programs.

This two-phased approach enables

USDA to streamline the applicaon

process to reduce the burden on

producers, proacvely include

underserved producers who have

been le out of past relief eorts and

encourage parcipaon in exisng

risk management tools that can help

producers handle future extreme

weather events.

Eligibility – Phase 1

Eligible crops include all crops for which

federal crop insurance or NAP coverage

was available and a crop insurance

indemnity or NAP payment was

received, except for crops intended for

grazing and crops intended for forage

or seed that were grazed. Qualifying

natural disaster events include wildres,

hurricanes, oods, derechos, excessive

heat, winter storms, freeze (including

apolar vortex), smoke exposure,

excessive moisture, qualifying drought,

and related condions.

For ERP eligibility, “related condions”

are damaging weather and adverse

natural occurrences that occurred

concurrently with and as a direct result

of a specied qualifying disaster event.

They include:

• Excessive wind that occurred

as a direct result of a derecho;

• Silt and debris that occurred

as a direct result of ooding;

• Excessive wind, storm surges,

tornados, tropical storms,

and tropical depressions that

occurred as a direct result of a

hurricane; and

• Excessive wind and blizzards

that occurred as a direct

result of a winter storm.

For drought, ERP assistance is

available if any area within the county

in which the loss occurred was rated

by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having

a drought intensity of:

• D2 (severe drought) for eight

consecuve weeks; or

• D3 (extreme drought) or higher

level of drought intensity.

Lists of 2020 and 2021 drought

counes eligible for ERP are available

on the emergency relief website.

For More Info

Addional USDA

disaster assistance

informaon can be

found on farmers.gov,

the Disaster Assistance

Discovery Tool,

Disaster-at-a-Glance

fact sheet, and Farm

Loan Discovery Tool.

For FSA and Natural

Resources Conservaon

Service programs,

producers should

contact their local

USDA Service Center.

For assistance with

a crop insurance

claim, producers and

landowners should

contact their crop

insurance agent.

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2 EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM

How to Apply – Phase 1

To simplify the delivery of ERP Phase 1 benets; FSA will

send pre-lled applicaon forms to producers whose crop

insurance and NAP data is already on le because they

received a crop insurance indemnity or NAP payment.

This form includes eligibility requirements, outlines the

applicaon process, and provides ERP payment informaon.

Producers will receive a separate applicaon form for each

program year. Receipt of a pre-lled applicaon is not

conrmaon that a producer is eligible to receive an ERP

Phase 1 payment. Producers will need to return completed

and signed ERP Phase 1 applicaons to their local FSA

county oce.

Producers must also have the following forms on le

with FSA within a subsequently announced deadline as

determined by the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs:

• Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet

• Form CCC-902, Farm Operang Plan for an individual

or legal enty

• Form CCC-901, Member Informaon for Legal

Enes (if applicable)

• A highly erodible land conservaon (somemes

referred to as HELC) and wetland conservaon

cercaon (Form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land

Conservaon (HELC) and Wetland Conservaon

(WC) Cercaon) for the ERP producer and

applicable aliates.

Most producers, especially those who have previously

parcipated in FSA programs will likely have these required

forms on le. However, those who are uncertain or want

to conrm should contact their local FSA county oce.

In addion to the forms listed above, certain producers

will also need to submit the following forms to qualify for

an increased payment limitaon or payment rate.

• Form FSA-510, Request for an Excepon to the

$125,000 Payment Limitaon for Certain Programs.

• Form CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited

Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher

Cercaon, for the applicable program year.

How Payments are Calculated –

Phase 1

ERP Phase 1 payments for crops covered by crop insurance

will be prorated by 75 percent to ensure that total ERP

payments, including payments under ERP Phase 2, do

not exceed the available funding. ERP Phase 1 payments

for NAP-covered crops will not be prorated due to the

signicantly smaller NAP porolio that by its nature only

covers smaller acreages and specialty crops that are not

covered by crop insurance.

RMA and FSA will calculate ERP Phase 1 payments

based on the data on le with the agencies at the me of

calculaon. The ERP Phase 1 payment calculaon for a

crop and unit will depend on the type and level of coverage

obtained by the producer. RMA and FSA will calculate

each producer’s loss consistent with the loss procedures

for the type of coverage purchased but using the ERP

factor in place of the coverage level. This calculated amount

would then be adjusted by subtracng out the net crop

insurance indemnity or NAP payment, which is equal to the

producer’s gross crop insurance indemnity or NAP payment

already received for those losses minus service fees and

premiums.

ERP Factor Tables

ERP factor tables can be found below and on the

Crop Insurance Level

ERP Factor

(Percent)

Catastrophic coverage 75

More than catastrophic coverage

but less than 55 percent

At least 55 percent

but less than 60 percent

82.5

At least 60 percent

but less than 65 percent

At least 65 percent

but less than 70 percent

87.5

At least 70 percent

but less than 75 percent

At least 75 percent

but less than 80 percent

92.5

At least 80 percent 95

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3 EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM

NAP Coverage Level

ERP Factor

(Percent)

Catastrophic coverage 75

50 percent 80

55 percent 85

60 percent 90

65 percent 95

emergency relief website:

Because the amount of loss due to a qualifying disaster

event in calendar years 2020 and 2021 cannot be

separated from the amount of loss caused by other eligible

causes of loss as dened by the applicable crop insurance

or NAP policy, the ERP Phase 1 payment will be calculated

based on the producer’s loss due to all eligible causes of

loss.

Historically Underserved Producers

The ERP payment percentage for historically underserved

producers, including beginning, limited resource, socially

disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers will be

increased by 15% of the calculated payment.

To qualify for the higher payment percentage, eligible

producers must have a CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged,

Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or

Rancher Cercaon, form on le with FSA for the

applicable program year.

Payment Limitation and Adjusted

Gross Income

The payment limitaon for ERP Phase 1 is determined

by the person’s or legal enty’s average adjusted gross

farm income (AGI). Average adjusted gross farm income

is the average of the person or legal enty’s gross income

derived from farming, ranching, or forestry operaons

for three taxable years preceding the most immediately

preceding complete taxable year.

A person or legal enty, other than a joint venture or

general partnership, cannot receive, directly or indirectly,

more than $125,000 in payments for specialty crops

and $125,000 in payment for all other crops under ERP

(for Phase 1 and Phase 2 combined) for a program year

if their average adjusted gross farm income is less than

75 percent of their average AGI the three taxable years

preceding the most immediately preceding complete tax

year.

If at least 75 percent of the person or legal enty’s average

AGI is farm income (income derived from farming, ranching,

or forestry related acvies) the person or legal enty,

other than a joint venture or general partnership, is eligible

to receive, directly or indirectly, up to:

• $900,000 for each program year for specialty crops;

and

• $250,000 for each program year for all other crops.

The sale of equipment used to conduct farm, ranch or

forestry operaons and the provision of producon inputs

and services to farmers, ranchers, foresters, and farm

operaons is included in the average adjusted gross farm

income, if the average adjusted gross farm income is at

least 66.66 percent of the average AGI of the person or

legal enty.

The relevant tax years for establishing a producer’s AGI and

percentage of farm income are:

• 2016, 2017, and 2018 for program year 2020;

• 2017, 2018, and 2019 for program year 2021; and

• 2018, 2019, and 2020 for program year 2022.

For legal enes not required to le a federal income tax

return, or for persons and enes with no taxable income

in one or more tax years, the average will be the adjusted

gross farm income, including losses, averaged for the three

taxable years preceding the most immediately preceding

complete taxable year.

A new legal enty will have adjusted gross farm income

averaged only for the years of the base period for which it

was in business. A new legal enty will not be considered

“new” to the extent it takes over an exisng operaon

and has any elements of common ownership interest and

land with the preceding person or legal enty. If such

commonality exists, then the income of the previous

person or legal enty will be averaged with that of the new

legal enty for the base period.

For a person ling a joint tax return, the cercaon of

average adjusted farm income will be reported as if the

person had led a separate federal tax return and the

calculaon is consistent with the informaon supporng

the led joint return.

To request the increased payment limitaon, parcipants

must le form FSA-510 cerfying their average adjusted

gross farm income is at least 75% of their average AGI,

accompanied by a cercaon from a cered public

accountant (CPA) or aorney that the parcipant meets the

requirements. For more informaon, contact your local FSA

service center.

fsa.usda.gov

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