Order Code RS21212
Updated January 24April 10, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Agricultural Disaster Assistance
Ralph M. Chite
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Summary
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers several permanently authorized
programs to help farmers recover financially from a natural disaster, including federal
crop insurance, the noninsured assistance program and emergency disaster loans. Since
1988, Congress regularly has made supplemental financial assistance available to
farmers and ranchers, primarily in the form of crop disaster payments and emergency
livestock assistance. A severe drought in portions of the Midwest and a series of
hurricanes (particularly Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita) in the Gulf adversely affected 2005
agricultural production in those regions. So
far, Congress has provided nearly $200
million for farm debris cleanup in a supplemental act (P.L. 109-148). However, no
emergency assistance has been provided to compensate producers for 2005 crop and
livestock losses. Some groups are pressuring Congress to provide assistance similar to
the farm disaster package that was provided for 2003 and 2004 production losses in an
earlier supplemental (P.L. 108-324). This report reviews ongoing and recently enacted
ad-hoc emergency USDA disaster programs. It will be updated as 1 billion in emergency agricultural assistance,
primarily for the cleanup and rehabilitation of damaged farmland and watersheds in P.L.
109-148. USDA also has transferred $250 million of existing funds for crop, livestock,
tree, and aquaculture assistance, exclusively for 2005 hurricane victims. To date,
Congress has not authorized any emergency crop or livestock payments for 2005 losses.
However, the Senate-reported version of a pending FY2006 supplemental appropriations
bill (H.R. 4939) contains an adopted amendment that would provide an estimated
additional $4 billion in various forms of farm assistance, including payments for major
crop and livestock losses caused by any 2005 disaster. This report will be updated as
conditions warrant.
Ongoing Major USDA Disaster Programs
USDA has at its disposal three major programs designed to help crop producers
recover from the financial effects of natural disasters — federal crop insurance,
noninsured assistance program (NAP) payments, and emergency disaster loans. All three
of these programs have permanent authorization and receive regular annual funding.
Federal Crop Insurance
The federal crop insurance program is administered by USDA’s Risk Management
Agency. The program is designed to protect crop producers from unavoidable risks
associated with adverse weather, and weather-related plant diseases and insect
infestations. A producer who chooses to purchase an insurance policy must do so by an
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
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administratively determined deadline date, which varies by crop and usually coincides
with the planting season. Crop insurance is available for most major crops.
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The federal crop insurance program was instituted in the 1930s and was subject to
major legislative reforms in 1980, and again in 1994 and 2000. The Agriculture Risk
Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-224) pumped $8.2 billion in new federal spending over
a five-year period into the program primarily through more generous premium subsidies
to help make the program more affordable to farmers and enhance farmer participation
levels, in an effort to preclude the need for ad-hoc emergency disaster payments. Since
2000, the federal subsidy to the crop insurance program has averaged about $3.3 billion
per year, up from an annual average of $1.1 billion in the 1990s and about $500 million
in the 1980s. Nearly two-thirds of the current federal spending is used to subsidize
producer premiums, and the balance primarily covers the government share of program
losses and reimburses participating private insurance companies for their administrative
and operating expenses.
Under the current crop insurance program, a producer who grows an insurable crop
selects a level of crop yield and price coverage and pays a premium that increases as the
levels of yield and price coverage rises. However, all eligible producers can receive
catastrophic (CAT) coverage without paying a premium. The premium for this portion
of coverage is completely subsidized by the federal government. Under CAT coverage,
participating producers can receive a payment equal to 55% of the estimated market price
of the commodity, on crop losses in excess of 50% of normal yield, or 50/55 coverage.
Although eligible producers do not have to pay a premium for CAT coverage, they
are required to pay upon enrollment a $100 administrative fee per covered crop for each
county where they grow the crop. The fee can be waived by USDA for financial hardship
cases. Any producer who opts for CAT coverage has the opportunity to purchase
additional insurance coverage from a private crop insurance company. For an additional
premium paid by the producer, and partially subsidized by the government, a producer can
increase the 50/55 catastrophic coverage to any equivalent level of coverage between
50/100 and 85/100, (i.e, 85 percent of yield and 100 percent of the estimated market
price), in increments of 5%.
For many insurable commodities, an eligible producer can purchase revenue
insurance. Under such a policy, a farmer potentially can receive an indemnity payment
when actual farm revenue falls below the target level of revenue, regardless of whether
the shortfall in revenue was caused by poor production or low farm commodity prices.
P.L. 106-224 requires USDA to subsidize premiums for revenue insurance coverage at
the same rate as traditional crop insurance policies. P.L. 106-224 also required USDA to
conduct two or more pilot programs to evaluate the effectiveness of revenue insurance for
livestock farmers. New livestock insurance pilot programs were established for 2002 for
hog producers and were expanded in subsequent years. (For more information, see the
“Federal Crop Insurance” section of CRS Report RL33037, Previewing a 2007 Farm Bill
and CRS Report RL30739, Federal Crop Insurance and the Agriculture Risk Protection
Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-224).)
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Noninsured Assistance Program (NAP)
Producers who grow a crop that is currently ineligible for crop insurance may be
eligible for a direct payment under USDA’s noninsured assistance program (NAP). NAP
has permanent authority under the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994 (P.L. 103354, as amended), and is administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The program’s
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principal clientele are farmers who grow a crop that is ineligible for federal crop
insurance. NAP is not subject to annual appropriations. Instead, it receives such sums
as are necessary through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, which has a line of
credit with the U.S. Treasury to fund an array of farm programs.
Eligible crops under NAP include any commercial crops grown for food or fiber that
are ineligible for crop insurance, and include mushrooms, floriculture, ornamental
nursery, Christmas tree crops, turfgrass sod, aquaculture, and ginseng. Trees grown for
wood paper or pulp products are not eligible. To be eligible for a NAP payment, a
producer first must apply for coverage under the program by the application closing date,
which varies by crop, but is generally about thirty days prior to the final planting date for
an annual crop. Like catastrophic crop insurance, NAP applicants must also pay a $100
per crop service fee at the time of application. In order to receive a NAP payment, a
producer must experience at least a 50% crop loss caused by a natural disaster, or be
prevented from planting more than 35% of intended crop acreage. For any losses in
excess of the minimum loss threshold, a producer can receive 55% of the average market
price for the covered commodity. Hence, NAP is similar to catastrophic crop insurance
coverage in that it pays 55% of the market price for losses in excess of 50% of normal
historic production. A producer of a noninsured crop is subject to a payment limit of
$100,000 per person and is ineligible for a payment if the producer’s qualifying gross
revenues exceed $2 million. USDA estimates FY2005 NAP payments of $247 million.
Emergency Disaster Loans
When a county has been declared a disaster area by either the President or the
Secretary of Agriculture, agricultural producers in that county may become eligible for
low-interest emergency disaster (EM) loans available through USDA’s Farm Service
Agency. Producers in counties that are contiguous to a county with a disaster designation
also become eligible for an EM loan. EM loan funds may be used to help eligible
farmers, ranchers, and aquaculture producers recover from production losses (when the
producer suffers a significant loss of an annual crop) or from physical losses (such as
repairing or replacing damaged or destroyed structures or equipment, or for the replanting
of permanent crops such as orchards). A qualified applicant can then borrow up to 100%
of actual production or physical losses (not to exceed $500,000) at a below-market
interest rate (which is currently 3.75%).
Once a county is declared eligible, an individual producer within the county (or a
contiguous county) must also meet the following requirements for an EM loan. A
producer must (1) be a family farmer and a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.; (2)
experience a crop loss of more than 30 percent or a physical loss of livestock, livestock
products, real estate or property; and (3) be unable to obtain credit from a commercial
lender, but still show the potential to repay the loan. Applications must be received
within eight months of the county’s disaster designation date. Loans for nonreal estate
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purposes generally must be repaid within one to seven years; loans for physical losses to
real estate have terms up to 20 years. Depending on the repayment ability of the producer
and other circumstances, these terms can be extended to 20 years for nonreal estate losses
and up to 40 years for real estate losses.
The EM loan program is permanently authorized by Title III of the Consolidated
Farm and Rural Development Act (P.L. 87-128), as amended, and is subject to annual
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appropriations. Traditionally, an appropriation was made for EM loans within the regular
agriculture appropriations bill. However, most of the funding for the program in recent
years has been provided through emergency supplemental appropriations. Emergency
provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-113) provided
funding to make $547 million in EM loans over a multi-year period. Total EM loans
made were $90 million in FY2001, $58 million in FY2002, just under $100 million in
FY2003, $30 million in FY2004, and $23 million in FY2005.
Emergency USDA Disaster ProgramsCongressional Action
Since 1988, Congress frequently has supplemented the regularly funded disaster
assistance programs with additional emergency aid. Funding for these programs generally
are provided in emergency supplemental appropriations bills. Among these major ad-hoc
farm disaster programs are (1) directcrop disaster payments, (2) livestock assistance, (3) tree
assistance, and (4) emergency conservation assistance. The FY2005 Military
Construction Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-324) contained supplemental funding to
provide an estimated $3.5 billion in assistance for 2003 or 2004 crop, livestock, and tree
losses, primarily in response to drought in the West and a series of 2004 hurricanes that
damaged or destroyed agricultural production in the Southeast. For 2005, agricultural
(For a history of the congressional
response to agricultural disasters, see CRS Report RL31095, Emergency Funding for
Agriculture: A Brief History of Supplemental Appropriations, FY1989-FY2006.)
For the 2005 crop year, agricultural production was adversely affected by a severe
drought in portions of the Midwest and by
an extremely active hurricane season (particularly Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the
Gulf). Supplemental appropriations attached to the FY2005 defense appropriations bill
(P.L. 109-148, H.R. 2863) provided $199.8 million to clean up and rehabilitate farmland
and operations damaged by the 2005 hurricanes. However, to date, no agricultural
assistance has been provided to compensate for crop and livestock losses in 2005. The
sections below review the major ad-hoc farm disaster programs that have been funded in
past years, which potentially could serve as a model for assistance if Congress provides
funding for 2005 agricultural losses.
For a summary of all emergency supplemental spending for agriculture since 1988,
see CRS Report RL31095, Emergency Funding for Agriculture: A Brief History of
Supplemental Appropriations, FY1989-FY2005. For a review of the emergency
agricultural assistance included in P.L. 108-324 in response to the 2004 hurricanes and
Western drought, see CRS Report RL32581, Assistance After Hurricanes and Other
Disasters: FY2004 and FY2005 Supplemental Appropriations.
Crop Disaster Payments
For virtually every crop year from 1988 through 2004, Congress authorized
emergency crop disaster payments (CDP) to eligible producers affected by any type of
natural disaster that caused a significant reduction to that year’s crop yields. Any producer
of a commercially grown crop was potentially eligible for a direct disaster payment within
these programs regardless of whether the crop was insurable or non-insurable, and even
if a producer waived crop insurance coverage. Most recently, emergency provisions
attached to the FY2005 military construction appropriations act (P.L. 108-324) provided
“such sums as are necessary” to fully fund a disaster payment formula for 2003 and 2004
crop losses. USDA estimated crop disaster payments of $2.4 billion for 2003 and 2004
losses. The application deadline expired on September 9, 2005.
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Under P.L. 108-324, a producer was potentially eligible for assistance if individual
crop losses were in excess of 35% in either 2003 or 2004, regardless of whether the
farmer was in a declared disaster area. For losses in excess of the 35% threshold, an
eligible producer could receive a payment equal to 65% of the relevant price for the
commodity. Payments could be made for only one of the two years’ losses, except for
producers in Virginia and North Carolina, which under the act were allowed to receive
payments in both years. Any producer who had the opportunity to insure the crop and
waived insurance for that year was slightly penalized, and received a payment equal to
60% of the relevant price. All commercially grown crops were eligible for a payment
under this formula except for cottonseed and sugarcane, which had separate disaster
payment programs authorized by P.L. 108-324. A participating producer also had to agree
to purchase crop insurance for the next two crop years, or, when insurance is not
available, to purchase coverage under the noninsured assistance program for two years.
The sum of disaster payments, crop insurance indemnities, and crop marketings could not
exceed 95% of the historical value of crop production. Maximum payments were $80,000
per person, and individuals with adjusted gross income in excess of $2.5 million were
ineligible. The $2.5 million income limitation is waived if more than 75% of income is
derived from farming. Also, a Florida producer could not receive a crop loss payment
under P.L. 108-324 if the producer already received a crop loss payment under USDA’s
Florida Hurricane Disaster Assistance Program, which was implemented by USDA before
enactment of P.L. 108-324 in response to the 2004 hurricanes using existing funds.
Livestock Assistance
Prior to 1996, USDA had the legislative authority to provide an array of livestock
assistance programs which were used primarily to help farmers purchase feed off the farm
when on-farm feed losses were significant. However, these emergency livestock programs
were suspended by the 1996 farm bill until 2002, because many policymakers felt that
some of these programs duplicated the federal assistance provided by crop insurance and
NAP. Despite the suspension of the previously authorized livestock assistance programs
by the 1996 farm bill, Congress funded an ad-hoc Livestock Assistance Program (LAP)
within various emergency supplemental acts in subsequent years. Since 1996, emergency
assistance was made available for livestock feed losses in 1998 ($270 million authorized),
1999 ($200 million), 2000 ($430 million), 2001 and 2002 combined ($250 million), and
2003 and 2004 combined (estimated at $475 million).
As provided in P.L. 108-324, LAP payments were made for 2003 and 2004 livestock
feed losses. The 2003/2004 LAP provided direct payments to eligible livestock producers
who suffered grazing losses due to natural disasters during either calendar year (not both).
Before an individual producer can be eligible, the producer’s county must have suffered
a minimum 40% loss of available grazing for at least three consecutive months due to a
disaster during the year. The county also had to have been declared a disaster area by
either the President or the Secretary of Agriculture in 2003 or 2004. Once the county
qualified for assistance, a producer had to have a minimum loss of 40% in order to qualify
for a payment to compensate for a portion of the producer’s purchase of off-farm feed.
Producers with more than $2.5 million of gross revenue were ineligible. The maximum
payment was $40,000 per person.
USDA has other authorities that can be activated when disasters strike livestock
growers. Producers in counties declared eligible by USDA occasionally are permitted to
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cut hay or graze livestock on land idled under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
The CRP is a USDA program that allows participating farmers to idle environmentally
fragile farmland for 10 years in return for annual federal rental payments. USDA also has
exercised its standing authority to release a portion of its inventory of nonfat dry milk,
which has been converted into livestock feed and provided to certain drought-stricken
states. Separately, in 2002 and 2003, USDA implemented a new Livestock Compensation
Program (LCP), which made payments to all producers of beef, dairy, sheep, and goats
in any county that was declared a disaster area by the Secretary between January 1, 2001,
and February 20, 2003, regardless of the individual producer’s loss experience. The
program was not specifically authorized by Congress but was initially implemented by
USDA under existing authorities, and later supplemented with funding provided in the
FY2003 omnibus appropriations act (P.L. 108-7).
Tree Assistance Program
The Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides financial assistance to orchard growers
to help them replant eligible trees, bushes, and vines that have been damaged or destroyed
by a natural disaster. A grower who loses more than 15% of eligible trees to a natural
disaster can be reimbursed for 75% of the cost of replanting eligible losses. Payments are
limited to 500 acres and no more than $75,000 per person. The program had been funded
on an ad-hoc basis in several years between 1992 and 1998 for eligible growers anywhere
in the country. TAP was permanently authorized by the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171),
subject to annual appropriations. FY2004 appropriations were made for specific state
losses: $12.5 million for California wildfires, $9.7 million for Michigan fire blight (a
bacterial disease), and $5 million for an April 2003 ice storm in New York. The FY2005
supplemental appropriations measure attached to the Military Construction
Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-324) fully funded TAP for any tree losses occurring
between December 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004, at an estimated cost of $35 million.
Emergency Conservation Program
The emergency conservation program (ECP) provides funds to farmers and ranchers
for sharing the cost of rehabilitating farmland damaged by natural disasters, and for
carrying out water conservation measures during severe drought. It is permanently
authorized by Title IV of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-334), subject to
annual appropriations. However, almost all of its funding in recent years has come from
emergency supplemental appropriations. Cost-sharing may be offered for such measures
as removing debris from farmland, re-leveling or grading farmland, and restoring
permanent livestock fences and structures. Funds can be used to replace or restore a
conservation practice or to restore the land to a condition similar to that existing prior to
a natural disaster, and may not be offered to address a conservation problem existing prior
to the disaster. Supplemental appropriations attached to the FY2006 defense
appropriations act (P.L. 109-148, H.R. 2863) included $199.8 million for the ECP,
exclusively for recovery from the 2005 hurricanes. Of this amount, $20 million is
earmarked for uninsured poultry growers, and an unspecified amount is required for
assistance to nursery, oyster, and poultry producers for cleaning up debris and structures an extremely active and severe hurricane
season in the Gulf states. To date, Congress has provided just over $1 billion in
emergency supplemental assistance for USDA programs (within P.L. 109-148), primarily
for farm debris cleanup ($200 million), watershed rehabilitation ($300 million), and a
new program to assist nonindustrial timber growers for 2005 hurricane losses ($404
million). Separately, USDA has transferred $250 million of existing funds to provide
direct payments for crop, livestock , tree, and aquaculture losses, exclusively for 2005
hurricane victims.
Agricultural Provisions in Pending Supplemental Bill (H.R. 4939)
Some farm groups are pressuring Congress to provide additional farm disaster
assistance for 2005 production losses caused by any natural disaster, not limited to
hurricanes. The Senate-reported version of a pending FY2006 emergency supplemental
bill (H.R. 4939) contains an adopted committee amendment that would provide $4 billion
in various forms of farm disaster and economic assistance, as estimated by the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The House-passed version of H.R. 4939 does not
contain any agricultural disaster assistance. A free-standing House bill (H.R. 5099),
identical to the Senate adopted amendment, was introduced on April 5, 2006.
The Senate-reported version of H.R. 4939 includes an estimated $1.5 billion in
various types of crop disaster payments, $619 million in livestock assistance, and $1.5
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billion in “economic loss” payments to certain growers of government-supported
commodities who have been adversely affected by high energy costs.
Crop Disaster Payments
Congress has provided ad-hoc crop disaster payments in various emergency
supplemental acts for nearly every crop year since 1988. H.R. 4939, as reported by the
Senate, would require USDA to provide crop disaster payments in a similar fashion as
past disaster supplementals. Under the Senate provision, a crop producer would be
potentially eligible for assistance if individual losses to a 2005 crop were in excess of
35%, caused by any type of disaster, regardless of whether the farmer was in a declared
disaster area. For losses in excess of the 35% threshold, an eligible producer could then
receive a payment equal to 50% of the established price for the commodity. Payments also
would be triggered if the producer harvested a disaster-damaged crop, but experienced a
lower market price because of quality losses.
Maximum payments would be $80,000 per person, and individuals with adjusted
gross income in excess of $2.5 million would be ineligible, as in the past. Crop producers
could receive disaster payments even if they had waived crop insurance coverage or
declined participation in the noninsured assistance program (NAP), but would be required
to purchase crop insurance or enroll in NAP for the next two crop years. Although CBO
estimates payments of $1 billion under the Senate provision, the bill allows for “such
sums as necessary” to fully fund the payment formula. All commercially grown crops
would be eligible for a payment under this formula except for cottonseed and sugarcane,
which have separate disaster payment programs in the Senate provision. The Senate bill
also includes separate payment programs for dairy production losses caused by a 2005
hurricane, and for fruit, vegetable, and nursery growers in hurricane-affected counties in
Florida.
Livestock Assistance
The Senate-reported version of H.R. 4939 contains funding for an array of
emergency livestock programs that have been implemented on an ad-hoc basis in past
years. Such sums as necessary (estimated at $549 million) would be provided for a
Livestock Compensation Program (LCP), similar to the LCP that was administered by
USDA in 2002. The purpose of the program is to compensate livestock growers for the
additional cost of having to procure livestock feed in the marketplace following a disaster.
It would provide payments to all producers of beef, dairy, sheep, goats, and catfish in any
county that was declared a disaster area by the Secretary between January 1, 2005, and the
date of enactment, regardless of the individual producer’s loss experience. USDA would
be required to use the same payment mechanism as in 2002, but the Senate provision
limits payments to 75% of the 2002 payment rates.
The Senate bill also would authorize necessary funds (estimated at $45 million) for
a Livestock Indemnity Program to compensate producers for livestock killed by a natural
disaster in 2005 or in 2006 (up to the enactment date). The payment rate would be left
to the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, but the rate could not be set less than
30% percent of the market value of the applicable livestock at the time of the disaster.
The bill also would indemnify contract poultry growers that suffered income losses in
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hurricane-affected counties (estimated at $10 million), and would provide $15 million to
help producers replace and retain ewe lamb breeding stock.
Tree Assistance Program
The Senate-reported bill provides necessary emergency funds (estimated at $35
million) for the Tree Assistance Program (TAP), which provides financial assistance to
orchard growers to help them replant eligible trees, bushes, and vines that have been
damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster. A grower who loses more than 15% of
eligible trees to a natural disaster can be reimbursed for 75% of the cost of replanting
eligible losses. Payments are limited to 500 acres and no more than $75,000 per person.
TAP was permanently authorized by the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171), subject to annual
appropriations. The program has been funded on an ad-hoc basis in several years since
1992 for eligible growers anywhere in the country. The Senate bill would allow TAP
payments for any county affected by a 2005 hurricane.
Conservation Assistance
The emergency conservation program (ECP) provides funds to farmers and ranchers
for sharing the cost of rehabilitating farmland damaged by natural disasters, and for
carrying out water conservation measures during severe drought. It is permanently
authorized, subject to annual appropriations. However, almost all of its funding in recent
years has come from emergency supplemental appropriations. The Senate-reported bill
would provide $17 million to the ECP, in addition to the $200 million already provided
by the previously enacted FY2006 supplemental (P.L. 109-148). The Senate-reported bill
also provides $109 million in Emergency Watershed Protection funding to supplement
the $300 million already provided by P.L. 109-148.
Economic Loss Payments
The Senate-reported bill also provides an estimated $1.5 billion in supplemental
payments to growers of grains, cotton, peanuts, and oilseeds who receive direct payments
under the farm commodity price and income support programs authorized by the 2002
farm bill. These payments are available to eligible producers nationwide, regardless of
whether they were subject to crop losses. Report language (S.Rept. 109-230)
accompanying the bill states that the payments are to compensate crop producers “for high
energy costs related to agricultural production.” Under the Senate language, an eligible
producer would receive an additional payment of 30 percent of the direct payment
received on a 2005 crop. Similar market loss payments were made in FY1999-FY2001
in various supplementals to compensate producers for then-prevailing low commodity
prices. For fruit, vegetable, livestock and dairy producers, the Senate bill provides a
combined total of $100 million to the states, with the condition that the funds be used in
some manner to support these commodities.