The second phase of a disaster relief program approved by Congress last year will especially benefit specialty crop growers, according to USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce.
While the first phase of the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program focused on providing aid to insured producers for crop losses, the second phase will also allow assistance to non-insured producers or producers that saw "shallow" losses that did not trigger an indemnity, Fordyce said on Agri-Pulse Newsmakers. He believes a "high percentage" of phase two applicants will be specialty crop growers.
USDA announced the opening of SDRP phase two on Monday.
"It's going to be a help for folks that didn't get an indemnity," Fordyce said, noting that for specialty crop growers in particular, crop insurance products are often not available or don't work well.
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USDA used 2023 and 2024 crop insurance data to help determine phase one assistance eligibility, which means it would have targeted insured producers. Phase two, on the other hand, will focus on losses that did not exceed producers' crop insurance deductibles.
When asked about the status of a potential program to assist farmers with trade-related losses, Fordyce said conversations are "ongoing."
He said Trump administration officials want to make sure it is "reflective of what's actually happening in the marketplace," before rolling it out. He noted that on top of commodity prices, producers are also struggling with high input costs, which he said President Donald Trump is also working on finding ways to lower.
"I think certainly, the White House, the administration, the president, Secretary [Brooke] Rollins — we all realize that economically, times are a little tough in agriculture right now, especially [with] Title One, commodity farmers," he said, later adding, "There's a lot that goes into this."
On Wednesday, however, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins told a Bloomberg reporter that USDA plans to release a trade aid package "the first week of December."
"We've been able to really analyze, build our formulas around what is happening," she said. "We're obviously in a different place today than we were a couple of months ago."
Congress recently extended the Conservation Reserve Program through a temporary spending measure earlier this month. Fordyce confirmed there will be another CRP signup, but added, "I'm just not sure when."
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