NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD NEWS) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program application deadline to Sept. 30, giving farmers more time to seek assistance for 2023 and 2024 crop losses. The department also announced new flexibility for documenting quality losses.
The program provides more than $16 billion for revenue, production and quality losses involving crops, trees, bushes and vines. Stage 1 covers indemnified losses using crop insurance or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program data. Stage 2 covers uninsured and quality losses.
Producers can now use third-party records to document quality discounts, including grading factors, nutrient tests, prices received and affected production. Documentation generally must be dated within 30 days of harvest, although county committees may consider later records.
The Farm Service Agency expanded flexibility when a crop’s final use differs from its intended use, including fresh crops sold for processing or production with salvage value. Producers must provide production and price records.
Farmers with Stage 1 quality-loss applications missing production data should still apply by Sept. 30. The agency says affected producers will be contacted later to review and re-sign applications when missing data becomes available.
