Agricultural Disaster Assistance
Dennis A. Shields
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
Ralph M. Chite
Section Research Manager
October 25, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RS21212
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress

Agricultural Disaster Assistance

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 Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), and emergency disaster loans. The federal
crop insurance program is designed to protect crop producers from unavoidable risks associated
with adverse weather, and weather-related plant diseases and insect infestations. Producers who
grow a crop that is currently ineligible for crop insurance may be eligible for a direct payment
under NAP. Under the emergency disaster (EM) loan program, 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 loans.
In order to provide a regular supplement to crop insurance and NAP payments, the Food,
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246, the 2008 farm bill) included authorization
and funding for five new disaster programs to cover losses through FY2011. The largest of the
new programs is the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), which is
designed to compensate eligible producers for a portion of crop losses that are not eligible for an
indemnity payment under the crop insurance program.
The 2008 farm bill also authorized three new livestock assistance programs and a tree assistance
program. The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) compensates ranchers at a rate of 75% of
market value for livestock mortality caused by a disaster. The Livestock Forage Disaster Program
(LFP) assists ranchers who graze livestock on drought-affected pastureland or grazing land. The
Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP)
compensates producers for disaster losses not covered under other disaster programs. Finally, the
Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides payments to eligible orchardists and nursery tree
growers to cover 70% of the cost of replanting trees or nursery stock following a natural disaster.
For individual producers, combined payments under SURE, LIP, LFP, and ELAP may not exceed
$100,000. For TAP, a separate limit of $100,000 per year per producer applies.
The new programs are designed to address the ad hoc nature of disaster assistance provided to
producers during the last two decades. Since 1988, Congress has regularly made emergency
financial assistance available to farmers and ranchers.
Following widespread crop losses in 2009 due to excessive rain, legislation was introduced in late
2009 in both chambers (S. 2810 and H.R. 4177) to make emergency payments to producers for
losses in calendar year 2009. Agricultural disaster provisions were eventually included in a “tax
extenders” package both chambers passed but failed to reconcile. Subsequent efforts to include
disaster provisions in other legislation were unsuccessful. However, after discussions with
Senator Lincoln—who had led efforts to secure additional disaster assistance—the Administration
announced on September 15, 2010, that it would implement a 2009 disaster assistance package
estimated at $630 million under “Section 32” authority to reestablish the purchasing power of
farmers. On October 22, 2010, USDA said it would begin issuing payments to producers of rice,
soybeans, sweet potatoes, and cotton who suffered at least a 5% loss in certain counties. Critics in
Congress and elsewhere say it could result in a windfall to some producers and possibly result in
unequal treatment of producers, particularly those who suffered losses but produce a non-covered
crop or are not located in a designated county.
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Contents
Major USDA Disaster Assistance Programs................................................................................. 1
Federal Crop Insurance ......................................................................................................... 1
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) ........................................................... 2
Emergency Disaster Loans .................................................................................................... 3
Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE).............................................. 4
Other 2008 Farm Bill Disaster Programs ............................................................................... 5
Emergency Supplemental Farm Disaster Assistance .................................................................... 5
2005-2007 Supplemental Assistance...................................................................................... 6
Crop Loss Assistance ...................................................................................................... 6
Livestock Assistance ....................................................................................................... 6
Conservation................................................................................................................... 7
2008 Supplemental Assistance .............................................................................................. 7
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ............................................................... 7
Disaster Assistance for 2009 Losses ...................................................................................... 8

Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................ 9

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ver the years, USDA has had at its disposal three major programs designed to help crop
producers recover from the financial effects of natural disasters—federal crop insurance,
O the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), and emergency disaster loans.
All three of these programs have permanent authorization and receive regular annual funding. In
addition to benefits provided under these standing programs, Congress has regularly made
emergency financial assistance available to farmers and ranchers in the form of disaster
payments.
During the congressional debate on the omnibus 2008 farm bill, some policymakers wanted to
make permanent some level of disaster payments to supplement the crop insurance program and
attempt to end the ad hoc (but regular) nature of emergency disaster assistance. Consequently,
Title XV of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246, the 2008 farm bill)
authorizes a new $3.8 billion trust fund to cover the cost of making agricultural disaster assistance
available on an ongoing basis over four years (FY2008-FY2011) through five new programs.
This report has two sections. The first provides an overview of the current USDA disaster
assistance programs: federal crop insurance, NAP payments, emergency disaster loans, the new
Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), and four other smaller disaster
programs authorized in the 2008 farm bill. The second section reviews the recent history of
emergency supplemental farm disaster assistance.
Major USDA Disaster Assistance Programs
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 administratively determined deadline date, which
varies by crop and usually coincides with the planting season. Crop insurance is available for
most major crops. Insurance products that protect against loss in revenue (yield times price) are
also available.
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. Between 2000 and 2009, the federal subsidy to the crop
insurance program averaged $3.7 billion per year, up from an annual average of $1.1 billion in the
1990s and about $500 million in the 1980s. Nearly three-fourths of federal spending during 2000-
2009 was used to subsidize producer premiums, and the balance primarily covered the
government share of program losses and reimbursed participating private insurance companies
for their administrative and operating expenses. In 2007 and 2008, program costs rose sharply,
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mainly because premium subsidies and company reimbursements are based on total premiums,
and total premiums increased in tandem with farm commodity prices.1
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 $300 administrative fee per covered crop for each county where they grow
the crop.2 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% of yield and 100% 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. Insured producers also can be eligible for
reduced coverage if they are late or prevented from planting because of flooding. (For more
information on the federal crop insurance program, see CRS Report RL34207, Crop Insurance
and Disaster Assistance in the 2008 Farm Bill
; and CRS Report R40532, Federal Crop
Insurance: Background and Issues
.)
Noninsured Crop Disaster 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 Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). NAP has
permanent authority under the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-354, as
amended), and is administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The program’s 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

1 In December 2009, USDA proposed changes to how company reimbursements are calculated. For more information,
see CRS Report R40966, Renegotiation of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) for Federal Crop Insurance, by
Dennis A. Shields.
2 The 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246) increased the fee to $300 per crop per county from the existing $100 fee.
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the program by the application closing date, which varies by crop, but is generally about 30 days
prior to the final planting date for an annual crop. Like catastrophic crop insurance, NAP
applicants must also pay an administrative fee. The NAP fee is $250 per crop payable at the time
of application (rising from $150 per crop, as required by the 2008 farm bill).
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.
NAP payments were $110 million in FY2005, $66 million in FY2006, $127 million in FY2007,
$74 million in FY2008, $62 million in FY2009, and an estimated $189 million in FY2010.3
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.
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% 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 non-real estate 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 non real 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 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

3 U.S. Department of Agriculture, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/agoutlook/aotables/2010/09Sep/aotab35.xls.
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million in FY2002, just under $100 million in FY2003, $30 million in FY2004, $23 million in
FY2005, $51 million in FY2006, $75 million in FY2007, $45 million in FY2008, $30 million in
FY2009, and $35 million thus far in FY2010 (through September 3, 2010).4
Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE)
The largest of the new farm disaster assistance programs authorized through the 2008 farm bill is
the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE) for crop producers for losses
occurring from crop year 2008 through September 30, 2011.5 The program is designed to
compensate eligible producers for a portion of crop losses that are not eligible for an indemnity
payment under the crop insurance program (i.e., the portion of losses that is part of the deductible
on the policy.) An eligible producer can receive a payment equal to 60% of the difference
between a target level of revenue and the actual total farm revenue for the entire farm. The target
level of revenue will be based on the level of crop insurance coverage selected by the farmer, thus
increasing if a farmer opts for higher levels of coverage. To be eligible for a payment, a producer
must be in or contiguous to a county that has been declared a disaster area by the Secretary of
Agriculture, or have an overall 50% farm loss. Payments are limited so that the disaster program
guarantee level cannot exceed 90% of what income likely would have been in the absence of a
natural disaster. The producer also must have at least the minimum level of crop insurance (CAT)
coverage for insurable crops and participate in the NAP program for non-insurable crops.6
Given the complexity of the program, USDA took 18 months to issue regulations for the SURE
program, with farmer signup for 2008 crop losses beginning January 4, 2010. Prior to publication
of the regulations, some farm groups and legislators had expressed concern for timely publication
so farmers could learn about program details and sign up.
A concern many have with the program is that payments for crop losses cannot be determined
until after the marketing year ends, since a portion of the disaster payment formula is based on the
average market year prices (published after the year ends), as defined in statute. For example, the
marketing year for the 2008 corn crop ended August 31, 2009, and USDA published the market
year average price on September 29, 2009. After that date, revenue calculations could be
determined for farms producing corn. Thus, crop disaster payments in any year could be delayed
more than a year after the actual loss.
As of October 19, 2010, payments under SURE have totaled $1.7 billion for 2008 losses.7

4 For more information on emergency disaster loan funding and program details, see http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/
webapp?area=home&subject=fmlp&topic=fun.
5 For more information on the SURE program, see CRS Report R40452, A Whole-Farm Crop Disaster Program:
Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE)
, by Dennis A. Shields. USDA program information is available at
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=sure. Also, see Farm Service Agency, USDA,
“Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program,” 74 Federal Register 68480-68498, December 28, 2009.
6 The 2008 farm bill made an exception to the crop insurance/NAP requirement for the 2008 crop year by allowing
producers who did not purchase crop insurance or NAP coverage in advance to be eligible for the program, as long as
they pay the equivalent administrative fee for coverage within 90 days of enactment. Subsequently, language contained
in P.L. 110-398 and P.L. 111-5 (the economic stimulus bill) modified program details for the 2008 and 2009 crops.
7 For latest payment information, see http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=landing.
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Other 2008 Farm Bill Disaster Programs
In addition to SURE, described above, the 2008 farm bill also authorizes and funds four smaller
disaster programs through FY2011: (1) Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), which compensates
ranchers at a rate of 75% of market value for livestock mortality caused by a disaster;8
(2) Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), to assist ranchers who graze livestock on drought-
affected pastureland or grazing land;9 (3) Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and
Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP), which provides up to $50 million to compensate these
producers for disaster losses not covered under other disaster programs;10 and (4) Tree Assistance
Program (TAP), under which eligible orchardists and nursery growers can receive a payment to
cover 70% of the cost of replanting trees or nursery stock following a natural disaster.
For individual producers, combined payments under SURE, LIP, LFP, and ELAP may not exceed
$100,000. For TAP, a separate limit of $100,000 per year per producer applies.
Emergency Supplemental Farm Disaster Assistance
In virtually every crop year between 1988 and 2007, Congress provided ad hoc disaster assistance
to farmers and ranchers with significant weather-related production losses. Ad-hoc assistance has
been made available primarily through emergency supplemental appropriations to a wide array of
USDA programs.11
While disaster programs authorized in the 2008 farm bill are meant to replace the need for ad hoc
payments, it is an open question whether Congress will continue to pass additional emergency
payments for producers. This is particularly true for crop losses, because of the potential time lag
between actual losses and government payments.12 The sections below describe the most recent
emergency funding, beginning with 2005 losses and ending with congressional and administrative
action in 2009 and 2010 for 2009-crop losses.

8 See USDA fact sheet at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/lip09.pdf. Also see Farm Service Agency and
Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA, “Livestock Indemnity Program and General Provisions for Supplemental
Agricultural Disaster Assistance Programs,” 74 Federal Register 31567-31578, July 2, 2009.
9 See USDA fact sheet at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=lfp. Also see Farm
Service Agency, USDA, “Livestock Forage Disaster Program and Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees,
and Farm-Raised Fish; Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance,” 74 Federal Register 46665-46683, September
11, 2009.
10 See Farm Service Agency, USDA, “Livestock Forage Disaster Program and Emergency Assistance for Livestock,
Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish; Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance,” 74 Federal Register 46665-46683,
September 11, 2009.
11 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-FY2009
, by Ralph M. Chite.
12 In contrast to crop disaster payments under the 2008 farm bill, the method for determining loss under the livestock
programs is more streamlined, and livestock payments arrive more quickly. Livestock death losses for individual
producers immediately trigger Livestock Indemnity Program payments, while the weekly publication “U.S. Drought
Monitor” is used to determine payments for grazing losses under the Livestock Forage Disaster Program. As of early
January 2010, USDA had made more than $175 million in disaster payments under both programs.
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2005-2007 Supplemental Assistance
Title IX of the FY2007 Iraq war supplemental appropriations act (P.L. 110-28) provided
emergency agricultural disaster assistance, primarily for crop and livestock losses in any one of
years 2005, 2006, or 2007 (for crops planted before February 28, 2007). Subsequently, Congress
extended the assistance for crop and livestock losses in all of 2007 in the FY2008 Consolidated
Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-161, Division A, Section 743). Both laws limited payments to one
of the three years, as selected by the producer. The cost of 2005-2007 assistance was $2.45
billion, including $2.03 billion for crop loss assistance and $383 million for livestock feed and
mortality losses.13
The following is a description of the major agricultural disaster provisions.14 The producer signup
period for 2005-2007 crop years ended on February 27, 2009.
Crop Loss Assistance
P.L. 110-28, as amended by P.L. 110-161, provided such sums as necessary to fund a crop disaster
payment program for 2005, 2006, or 2007 production losses. Payments under the crop loss
provisions were $2.03 billion. In order to contain program costs, a producer could not receive a
payment for more than one crop year. Eligible producers could receive a payment on losses in
excess of 35% of normal crop yields. The payment rate was 42% of the established market price
for the commodity. The act also prohibited any crop disaster payments to a producer who either
waived crop insurance or did not participate in the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program
in the year of the loss. Also, the sum of disaster payments, crop insurance indemnities, and crop
marketings could not exceed 95% of what the value of the crop would have been in the absence
of losses. P.L. 110-28 also required USDA to make payments to farmers who experienced quality
losses to their 2005-2007 crops, as well as for quantity losses.
Livestock Assistance
P.L. 110-28, as amended by P.L. 110-161, contained necessary sums to fund a Livestock
Compensation Program (LCP) to reimburse livestock growers for feed losses caused by a natural
disaster. Payments under the LCP provision were $341 million. Payments were made to producers
of beef, dairy, poultry, hogs, sheep, goats, and catfish, in any county that was declared a disaster
area by the President or Secretary of Agriculture between January 1, 2005, and December 31,
2007, with payments limited to one year of losses. To contain costs, the act limited the payment
rate to 61% of the payment rate used in previous years. For the same time period, P.L. 110-28, as
amended, contained necessary funds (payments totaled $42 million) for a Livestock Indemnity
Program to reimburse producers for replacing livestock killed by a natural disaster, at a payment
rate of at least 26% of the market value of the livestock prior to death. The statute also included
payments to dairy producers for production losses in disaster-designated counties (payments
totaled $12 million).

13 Payment figures in this section are from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Agricultural
Outlook: Statistical Indicators
, Table 35—CCC Net Outlays by Commodity and Function, http://www.ers.usda.gov/
publications/agoutlook/aotables/2009/11Nov/aotab35.xls.
14 For more information on these disaster programs, see various USDA fact sheets accessed at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/
FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=landing.
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Conservation
P.L. 110-28 contained $16 million in additional funding for the Emergency Conservation Program
(ECP) to assist farmers in the cleanup and restoration of farmland damaged by a natural disaster.
Separately, P.L. 110-28 in effect provided additional funds for the Emergency Forestry
Conservation Reserve Program, a program that helps restore forest lands in the South that were
damaged by the 2005 hurricanes. The act removed statutory language that prohibited any
spending beyond calendar year 2006, which CBO estimated at $115 million for FY2007.
2008 Supplemental Assistance
Primarily in response to the 2008 Midwest floods, the FY2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act
(P.L. 110-252) contained a total of nearly $480 million in emergency funding to eligible farmers
to defray the cost of clean-up and rehabilitation of farmland and watersheds following a disaster.
Of the total amount available, $89.4 million was for the Emergency Conservation Program
(ECP), which assists farmers in the cleanup and restoration of farmland damaged by a natural
disaster, and $390.5 million was for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWPP),
which is designed to relieve imminent hazards created by natural disasters and to alleviate future
flood risk. Second supplemental amounts of $115 million for ECP and $100 million for the
EWPP were provided under the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing
Appropriations Act of 2009 (P.L. 110-329).15 No emergency supplemental disaster assistance was
authorized for 2008 crop and livestock losses, since new programs were authorized and funded
through the 2008 farm bill, as described above.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5) contains
provisions worth $744 million, as estimated by CBO, to directly assist farmers, including $674
million for crop disaster programs (primarily SURE). The SURE program changes affect 2008
crop payments by altering the payment formula and program dates.
The enacted ARRA also authorizes a new $50 million grant program for aquaculture producers to
compensate them for their share of high feed prices in 2008. Under the Aquaculture Grant
Program, USDA’s Farm Service Agency provides grants to state governments for distribution to
farmers. USDA implemented the program through a notice of funds availability published in the
Federal Register on June 2, 2009.16 State departments of agriculture began announcing program
availability on June 18, 2009.17
The final component of ARRA related to farm disaster assistance is $20 million in budget
authority (loan subsidy) for the Farm Service Agency to support $173 million in direct farm

15 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, FY2010 USDA Budget Explanatory Notes for Committee on
Appropriations
, Farm Service Agency, June 3, 2009, p. 68, http://www.obpa.usda.gov/18fsa2010notes.pdf.
16 For the notice and additional information on the program, see http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&
subject=landing&topic=aqua.
17 Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, “Bronson Announces 2008 Aquaculture Grant Program,”
press release, June 18, 2009, http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/press/2009/06182009.html.
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operating loans. FSA lends to farmers and ranchers who are not able to obtain credit from
commercial lenders.
For more information on ARRA, see CRS Report R40160, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Rural
Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009
, coordinated by Jim
Monke.
Disaster Assistance for 2009 Losses
Following losses to 2009 crops due to excessive rain across much of the country, legislation was
introduced in late 2009 in both chambers (S. 2810 and H.R. 4177) to make emergency payments
to producers for losses in calendar year 2009. The bills were referred to committees in both
chambers. Proponents have argued that the SURE program has not effectively covered losses for
some farmers, particularly rice and cotton producers.18 Agricultural disaster provisions were
eventually included in a “tax extenders” package that both chambers passed but failed to
reconcile. Subsequent efforts to include disaster provisions in other legislation were unsuccessful.
In August 2010, the Administration wrote Senator Lincoln—who had led efforts to secure
additional disaster assistance—committing to administratively provide emergency payments to
producers consistent with proposed legislation.19 On September 15, 2010, the Administration
announced that it would implement a disaster program for 2009 losses under “Section 32”
authority.20 USDA notes that Section 32 can be used to “reestablish the purchasing power of
farmers” and has been used previously for disaster relief.
USDA expects to spend up to $630 million distributed across three categories: (1) $550 million
for payments to producers of rice, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and cotton who suffered at least a
5% loss in certain disaster-designated counties,21 (2) $60 million to poultry producers who lost a
contract due to the bankruptcy of an integrator (processor), and (3) $20 million to aquaculture
producers who need relief from high feed costs. Eligible counties are those designated as primary
disaster counties by the Secretary due to high precipitation or moisture conditions in 2009.
Critics of the 2009 disaster assistance in Congress and elsewhere have questioned whether USDA
has authority to make such payments without a legislative mandate and say it could result in a
windfall to some producers given the relatively low loss threshold. Normal variation in crop

18 Rice producers have said their 2009 losses are not covered well by the SURE program because the monetary losses
stemmed primarily from wet weather at harvest that increased harvesting costs rather than from lower yields (which
would have more likely resulted in SURE payments). Also, rice and cotton farmers tend to carry less crop insurance
because they say it “doesn't work as well as for other crops,” which reduces the likelihood of SURE payments (a higher
coverage level purchased by a farmer results in a higher SURE program guarantee level).
19 The letter from the Office of Management and Budget to Senator Lincoln, dated August 6, 2010, is available at
http://www.farmpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/OMB216Sharp_omb_eop_gov_20100806_083106.pdf.
20 USDA’s Section 32 program is funded by a permanent appropriation of 30% of the previous year’s customs receipts,
less certain mandatory transfers. Section 32 funds are used for a variety of activities, including child nutrition
programs, the purchase of commodities for domestic food programs, and farm disaster relief. For more information, see
CRS Report RL34081, Farm and Food Support Under USDA’s Section 32 Program, by Melissa D. Ho.
21 On October 22, 2010, USDA announced it would begin making payments under the “Crop Assistance Program
(CAP)” using payment rates established for each crop. For each eligible crop, producers who certify a loss of 5% or
greater in 2009 will receive a payment based on the payment rate multiplied by actual planted (or prevented planted)
acres.
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yields can be more than 5%. As a result, payments could go to producers who had experienced
little or no loss from weather-related disasters. Also, critics charge that the assistance will result in
unequal treatment of producers, particularly those who suffered losses but produce a non-covered
crop or are not located in a designated county.

Author Contact Information

Dennis A. Shields
Ralph M. Chite
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
Section Research Manager
dshields@crs.loc.gov, 7-9051
rchite@crs.loc.gov, 7-7296


Congressional Research Service
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