The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing payments this week to agricultural producers impacted by natural disasters, including $143 million in crop insurance indemnities for Florida producers impacted by Hurricane Milton and about $92 million for livestock producers, nationwide, who faced increased supplemental feed costs as a result of forage losses due to 2022 qualifying drought and wildfire events.
The payments for livestock producers are through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) 2022 and are a second round of payments to producers, building on the more than $465 million in payments made to eligible livestock producers in September 2023, using remaining funds in the program. ELRP support came from the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328), signed by President Biden that provides financial assistance for agricultural producers impacted by wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, winter storms and other eligible disasters occurring in the 2022 calendar year. Learn more on the Emergency Relief webpage.