As a fourth-generation Missouri farmer, I know what it means when a disaster strikes your operation. You don’t hit pause. You don’t wait for the weather to cooperate. You find a way to get back in the field, rebuild what you can and keep moving forward.
That’s what farmers and ranchers do every day, and that’s why the work we do at the U.S. Department of Agriculture has to meet the moment for the people we serve.
The Trump administration is delivering on that commitment with the next stage of the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, along with critical support for milk losses and on-farm stored commodities. This assistance is USDA’s first major action since reopening after the government shutdown, and it underscores something President Donald Trump has made clear from Day One: This administration is putting farmers first.
Congress provided the assistance through the American Relief Act of 2025, and since March, USDA has paid producers more than $16 billion in congressionally mandated disaster aid. That includes $9.3 billion through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, more than $1 billion in Emergency Livestock Relief, and over $5.7 billion already delivered through SDRP Stage One alone. These funds have helped producers prepare for the next crop year, keep local economies afloat, and make families whole after devastating natural disasters in 2023 and 2024.
Stage Two of SDRP expands that support in important ways. For the first time, USDA disaster assistance will cover shallow losses – losses that didn’t trigger a crop insurance or noninsured disaster assistance program indemnity, but still hit the bottom line. We heard loud and clear from producers that this was a gap in previous programs. Stage Two also covers uninsured losses and quality losses, everything from smoke-damaged fruit to forage that lost nutritional value due to weather extremes. If the crop’s value dropped because of a disaster, we’re going to recognize that loss.
Sign-up for SDRP Stage Two opened Nov. 24 and producers will have until April 30, 2026, to apply for both Stages One and Two. That same day, enrollment opens for the Milk Loss Program, which provides up to $1.65 million for qualifying dumped or removed milk in 2023 and 2024, and the On-Farm Stored Commodity Loss Program, which provides up to $5 million for harvested commodities lost in on-farm storage. Both of those programs run through Jan. 23, 2026.
Let me be plain about one more important point: disasters don’t discriminate. Hurricanes, wildfires, derechos – they don’t check your ZIP code or your background before they wipe out a crop. And USDA’s assistance should reflect that reality. Under Secretary Brooke Rollins’ leadership, we have worked relentlessly to make this support timely, fair, and focused squarely on actual losses in the field, not on progressive factors that complicate and delay relief.
We still have a long road ahead in farm country, but I believe deeply in the resilience of America’s producers, and in our responsibility at USDA to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them as they recover. Whether you’re managing cattle, planting high-value specialty crops, or storing grain for the winter, our priority is the same: Deliver the assistance you were promised when you need it most.
It’s an honor to serve America’s farmers and ranchers. Now let’s get to work.
Richard Fordyce is under secretary for farm production and conservation at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
