New data from USDA’s Economic Research Services shows Emergency Relief Program payments are largely concentrated in North Dakota and Texas.
In 2020 and 2021, the United States experienced 42 disaster events, each resulting in damages of at least $1 billion, including hurricanes, drought, and wildfires. The Emergency Relief Program provides funds to assist commodity growers who suffered losses from natural disasters in those years. As of January 2023, cumulative payments made through the ERP totaled $7.3 billion. USDA disbursed a large portion of this total, $1.16 billion, to North Dakota producers of corn, soybeans, and wheat, who experienced flooding in 2020 and drought in 2021.
Texas producers also received a sizable portion of payments, with cotton farmers receiving $510 million of the $909 million disbursed in that State. Producers in North Dakota and Texas received most ERP payments for revenue, quality, or production losses because of moisture and drought that occurred during the 2020 and 2021 crop years.
