USDA Announces Additional SDRP Payments

USDA announced that eligible farmers will receive additional Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) payments in the coming weeks through Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices. The additional payments will essentially double any SDRP payments that farmers received previously. A total of about 16 billion dollars was available for the SDRP program, as part of the farm disaster assistance funds that were allocated by Congress in December of 2024. The SDRP payments were initiated to offset crop losses that producers incurred in both the 2023 and 2024 crop years. The crop losses were calculated separately for each year, so eligible farmers could potentially have received a payment for each year. USDA also announced that sign-up for the SDRP program at local FSA offices will be extended until August 12, 2026, from the current deadline of April 30, 2026.
SDRP “Stage 1” payments were paid to farmers with eligible crops that had a federal crop insurance policy in place in 2023 and 2024, or that had crops enrolled in the Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) in 2023 and 2024. To qualify for “Stage 1”, farmers needed to have received a crop insurance indemnity payment or a NAP payment tied to a qualifying crop disaster in 2023 or 2024. Qualifying disasters include floods, wildfires, hurricanes, freezes, excessive moisture, heat, and qualifying drought. Eligibility for drought losses was restricted to farmers in counties that experienced a drought level of “D3” or higher at in 2023 or 2024, or in counties that were at a “D2” drought level for eight or more consecutive weeks, based on the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor.
Stage 2 of the SDRP program was for crop losses from similar qualifying crop disasters in 2023 and 2024 that were required for SDRP Stage 1. SDRP Stage 2 includes assistance for “uncovered” crop losses, crop “quality” losses, and “shallow” crop losses. The “uncovered” crop losses were targeted toward crops that are not covered by federal crop insurance or the NAP program. This could include certain fruit and vegetable crops, tree farms, etc. The crop “quality” losses included losses that resulted in quality discounts in a crop that were not covered by crop insurance, such as may have occurred from flooding. Forage crops that had reduced nutritional value may also be eligible for “quality” losses under Stage 2 of SDRP.
The “shallow” crop losses in Stage 2 were intended to cover did not meet the threshold requirements for Stage 1 SDRP payments. This is the category that most Midwest corn, soybean, and wheat producers fell under for potential Stage 2 SDRP eligibility. The type of eligible losses and the payment formulas and calculations for Stage 2 were different from the calculations that were used for SDRP Stage 1 payments. As a result, a very small percentage of producers were able to qualify for SDRP Stage 2 payments due to “shallow” crop losses in 2023 and 2024., which has limited the total payments that will likely be paid under SDRP Stage 2.
SDRP Stage 1 payments were determined by taking the original crop insurance projected revenue (APH yield times the Spring price for the crop) times an established factor (.95 for 80% or 85% crop insurance coverage, .925 for 75% coverage, etc.) to arrive at the SDRP crop revenue. The actual crop value (final 2024 or 2023 crop insurance yield times the RMA harvest price for 2023 or 2024) and the “net” crop insurance indemnity payment received were subtracted from the SDRP revenue total to calculate the maximum SDRP eligibility. The maximum SDRP eligibility was then multiplied by a factor of 35 percent (.35) to arrive at the net SDRP Stage 1 payment amount. The additional SDRP payment that was just announced will pay an additional 35 percent (.35) of the original calculated SDRP payment eligibility, which will be similar for any Stage 2 payments.
The SDRP payment limit is $125,000 per eligible individual or entity, which increases to $250,000 if at least 75 percent of the reported gross income on the tax returns are derived from eligible farm-related operations. There are potential higher payment limits for certain specialty crops. There will be a separate payment limit for both 2023 and 2024. The first and second SDRP payments will be combined for payment limit purposes for each year. Once farmers hit the payment limit, they are not eligible for any additional SDRP payments for that year.
Eligible farmers that have already received a SDRP payment for 2023 or 2024 do not need to sign-up or complete any additional forms at their FSA office. The additional SDRP payments will be automatically paid electronically from FSA through direct deposit methods, similar to other FSA payments. Farmers that have not completed SDRP Stage 2 applications will still need to complete the appropriate forms and apply at their FSA office by August 12. USDA has a very comprehensive SDRP website available on SDRP payments and application procedures at: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/programs/supplemental-disaster-relief-program-sdrp
 
SDRP Payment Distribution
The USDA SDRP website “dashboard” lists the approved SDRP Stage 1 applications and the total payment amount for the U.S., as well as the approved applications and payment amount for each State. The “dashboard” also lists the total SDRP amounts paid out for each eligible commodity. Based on the SDRP “dashboard” data, as of April 27, 2026, a total of just over $6.7 billion had been paid in total SDRP Stage 1 payments in the U.S. for 473,214 approved applications, which results in an average of $14,165 per approved application. Of the total SDRP payments, just under $2.5 billion has been paid for corn, just under $1.6 billion for soybeans, along with approximately $798 million for wheat, $541 million for cotton, $161 million for sorghum, and just over $80 million for both peanuts and rice., with lesser amounts for all other eligible crops.
Following are the top 10 States in total SDRP Stage 1 payments received, along with the number of the approved applications and the average payment per application:
1. Minnesota = $726.5 million paid; 48,091 approved applications; $15,106 per application.
2. Kansas = $708.4 million paid; 75,443 approved applications; $9,391 per application
3. Texas = $629.5 million paid; 44,133 approved applications; $14,265 per application
4. Iowa = $598.4 million paid; 52,397 approved applications; $11,421 per application
5. Nebraska = $511.1 million paid; 53,337 approved applications; $9,582 per application
6. South Dakota = $337.4 million paid; 28,335 approved applications; $11,908 per application
7. North Dakota = $333.3 million paid; 24,077 approved applications; $13,841 per application
8. Illinois = $262.1 million paid; 30,819 approved applications; $8,505 per application
9. Missouri = $186.5 million paid; 20,509 approved applications; $9,094 per application
10. California = $185.2 million paid; 5,936 approved applications; $31,192 per application
The SDRP payment amounts for each State will now be essentially doubled. There was no “dashboard” data available for SDRP Stage 2 payments; however, the total Stage 2 payments will be much lower than Stage 1.
 
Summary of the Additional SDRP Payments
On the surface, it appears that there is a wide disparity among States in the total amount of SDRP Stage 1 payments, approved SDRP applications, and the SDRP payment per application; however it is important to remember that these payments were based on average crop yields and national average crop prices in 2023 and 2024, States that had higher crop yields in those years likely had higher levels of farm revenue from crop production. For example, Minnesota had an average corn yield of 174 bushels per acre in 2024, compared to 217 bushels per acre in Illinois., with a 2024 national average corn price of $4.24 per bushel. This would result in a 2024 average gross revenue for corn of $738 per acre in Minnesota, compared to $920 per acre in Illinois, or an advantage of $182 per acre in Illinois. There was also a corn revenue advantage of $95 per acre in Illinois for 2023, compared to Minnesota. Based on average 2023 and 2024 corn acreage in each State, and the doubling of the SDRP payments, Minnesota farmers will receive a total of about $91 per acre in SDRP payments, compared to $24 per acre for Illinois farmers, or an advantage of $67 per acre total for Minnesota farmers for both years.
For additional information contact Kent Thiesse, Farm Management Analyst Phone --- (507) 381-7960; E-mail --- [email protected]