Emergency Relief Program(ERP)

Disaster Recovery Assistance for Commodity 

and Specialty Crop Producers 

Background 

On September 30, 2021, President Biden 

signed into law the Extending Government 

Funding and Delivering Emergency 

Assistance Act (P.L. 117-43), which includes 

$10 billion in assistance to agricultural 

producers impacted by wildfires, droughts,

hurricanes, winter storms, and other eligible 

disasters experienced during calendar years 

2020 and 2021. The Farm Service Agency 

(FSA) has also made payments to ranchers 

impacted by drought and wildfire through

the first phase of the Emergency Livestock 

Relief Program (ELRP). ERP is another relief

component of the Act.

Overview 

ERP covers losses to crops, trees, bushes 

and vines due to a qualifying natural 

disaster event in calendar years 2020 and 

2021. 

For impacted producers, FSA will be 

administering emergency relief to row crop

and specialty crop producers through the 

following two-phased process:

• Phase 1 will leverage existing

Federal Crop Insurance or 

Noninsured Crop Disaster 

Assistance Program (NAP) 

data as the basis for calculating

initial payments.

• Phase 2 will be intended to fill

additional assistance gaps and

cover eligible producers who did 

not participate in existing risk

management programs. 

This two-phased approach enables 

USDA to streamline the application

process to reduce the burden on 

producers, proactively include

underserved producers who have 

been left out of past relief efforts and

encourage participation in existing

risk management tools that can help

producers handle future extreme

weather events. 

Eligibility – Phase 1 

Eligible crops include all crops for which

federal crop insurance or NAP coverage

was available and a crop insurance 

indemnity or NAP payment was

received, except for crops intended for

grazing and crops intended for forage

or seed that were grazed. Qualifying

natural disaster events include wildfires,

hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive

heat, winter storms, freeze (including

apolar vortex), smoke exposure,

excessive moisture, qualifying drought,

and related conditions.

For ERP eligibility, “related conditions”

are damaging weather and adverse 

natural occurrences that occurred 

concurrently with and as a direct result 

of a specified qualifying disaster event.

They include:

• Excessive wind that occurred 

as a direct result of a derecho;

• Silt and debris that occurred 

as a direct result of flooding;

• Excessive wind, storm surges, 

tornados, tropical storms, 

and tropical depressions that 

occurred as a direct result of a

hurricane; and

• Excessive wind and blizzards 

that occurred as a direct 

result of a winter storm.

For drought, ERP assistance is 

available if any area within the county

in which the loss occurred was rated 

by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having 

a drought intensity of:

• D2 (severe drought) for eight

consecutive weeks; or

• D3 (extreme drought) or higher 

level of drought intensity.

Lists of 2020 and 2021 drought 

counties eligible for ERP are available 

on the emergency relief website. 

For More Info 

Additional USDA

disaster assistance 

information can be

found on farmers.gov,

the Disaster Assistance 

Discovery Tool, 

Disaster-at-a-Glance 

fact sheet, and Farm 

Loan Discovery Tool. 

For FSA and Natural

Resources Conservation

Service programs, 

producers should 

contact their local 

USDA Service Center. 

For assistance with 

a crop insurance 

claim, producers and 

landowners should 

contact their crop 

insurance agent. 

AUGUST 2022 fsa.usda.gov 
 

 

EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM 2 

How to Apply – Phase 1 

To simplify the delivery of ERP Phase 1 benefits; FSA will

send pre-filled application forms to producers whose crop

insurance and NAP data is already on file because they

received a crop insurance indemnity or NAP payment.

This form includes eligibility requirements, outlines the

application process, and provides ERP payment information.

Producers will receive a separate application form for each

program year. Receipt of a pre-filled application is not

confirmation that a producer is eligible to receive an ERP

Phase 1 payment. Producers will need to return completed 

and signed ERP Phase 1 applications to their local FSA

county office.

Producers must also have the following forms on file

with FSA within a subsequently announced deadline as 

determined by the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs:

• Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet

• Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual

or legal entity

• Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal

Entities (if applicable)

• A highly erodible land conservation (sometimes

referred to as HELC) and wetland conservation

certification (Form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land

Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation

(WC) Certification) for the ERP producer and

applicable affiliates.

Most producers, especially those who have previously 

participated in FSA programs will likely have these required

forms on file. However, those who are uncertain or want

to confirm should contact their local FSA county office. 

In addition to the forms listed above, certain producers

will also need to submit the following forms to qualify for

an increased payment limitation or payment rate.

• Form FSA-510, Request for an Exception to the

$125,000 Payment Limitation for Certain Programs.

• Form CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited

Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher 

Certification, for the applicable program year.

How Payments are Calculated – 

Phase 1 

ERP Phase 1 payments for crops covered by crop insurance

will be prorated by 75 percent to ensure that total ERP 

payments, including payments under ERP Phase 2, do 

not exceed the available funding. ERP Phase 1 payments

for NAP-covered crops will not be prorated due to the

significantly smaller NAP portfolio that by its nature only

covers smaller acreages and specialty crops that are not 

covered by crop insurance. 

RMA and FSA will calculate ERP Phase 1 payments 

based on the data on file with the agencies at the time of

calculation. The ERP Phase 1 payment calculation for a

crop and unit will depend on the type and level of coverage

obtained by the producer. RMA and FSA will calculate 

each producer’s loss consistent with the loss procedures 

for the type of coverage purchased but using the ERP

factor in place of the coverage level. This calculated amount

would then be adjusted by subtracting out the net crop

insurance indemnity or NAP payment, which is equal to the

producer’s gross crop insurance indemnity or NAP payment

already received for those losses minus service fees and

premiums. 

ERP Factor Tables 

ERP factor tables can be found below and on the

Crop Insurance Level ERP Factor 

(Percent) 

Catastrophic coverage 75 

More than catastrophic coverage 

but less than 55 percent 80 

At least 55 percent 

but less than 60 percent 82.5 

At least 60 percent 

but less than 65 percent 85 

At least 65 percent 

but less than 70 percent 87.5 

At least 70 percent 

but less than 75 percent 90 

At least 75 percent 

but less than 80 percent 92.5 

At least 80 percent 95 

AUGUST 2022 fsa.usda.gov 
 

 

EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM 3 

NAP Coverage Level ERP Factor 

(Percent) 

Catastrophic coverage 75 

50 percent 80 

55 percent 85 

60 percent 90 

65 percent 95 

emergency relief website:

Because the amount of loss due to a qualifying disaster

event in calendar years 2020 and 2021 cannot be 

separated from the amount of loss caused by other eligible

causes of loss as defined by the applicable crop insurance

or NAP policy, the ERP Phase 1 payment will be calculated

based on the producer’s loss due to all eligible causes of

loss. 

Historically Underserved Producers 

The ERP payment percentage for historically underserved

producers, including beginning, limited resource, socially 

disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers will be

increased by 15% of the calculated payment.

To qualify for the higher payment percentage, eligible

producers must have a CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, 

Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or 

Rancher Certification, form on file with FSA for the

applicable program year. 

Payment Limitation and Adjusted 

Gross Income 

The payment limitation for ERP Phase 1 is determined

by the person’s or legal entity’s average adjusted gross

farm income (AGI). Average adjusted gross farm income

is the average of the person or legal entity’s gross income

derived from farming, ranching, or forestry operations

for three taxable years preceding the most immediately

preceding complete taxable year. 

A person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or

general partnership, cannot receive, directly or indirectly, 

more than $125,000 in payments for specialty crops

and $125,000 in payment for all other crops under ERP

(for Phase 1 and Phase 2 combined) for a program year

if their average adjusted gross farm income is less than

75 percent of their average AGI the three taxable years

preceding the most immediately preceding complete tax 

year. 

If at least 75 percent of the person or legal entity’s average

AGI is farm income (income derived from farming, ranching,

or forestry related activities) the person or legal entity,

other than a joint venture or general partnership, is eligible 

to receive, directly or indirectly, up to:

• $900,000 for each program year for specialty crops;

and 

• $250,000 for each program year for all other crops.

The sale of equipment used to conduct farm, ranch or

forestry operations and the provision of production inputs

and services to farmers, ranchers, foresters, and farm

operations is included in the average adjusted gross farm

income, if the average adjusted gross farm income is at

least 66.66 percent of the average AGI of the person or

legal entity.

The relevant tax years for establishing a producer’s AGI and

percentage of farm income are:

• 2016, 2017, and 2018 for program year 2020;

• 2017, 2018, and 2019 for program year 2021; and

• 2018, 2019, and 2020 for program year 2022.

For legal entities not required to file a federal income tax

return, or for persons and entities with no taxable income

in one or more tax years, the average will be the adjusted 

gross farm income, including losses, averaged for the three

taxable years preceding the most immediately preceding 

complete taxable year. 

A new legal entity will have adjusted gross farm income

averaged only for the years of the base period for which it

was in business. A new legal entity will not be considered

“new” to the extent it takes over an existing operation

and has any elements of common ownership interest and

land with the preceding person or legal entity. If such

commonality exists, then the income of the previous

person or legal entity will be averaged with that of the new

legal entity for the base period.

For a person filing a joint tax return, the certification of

average adjusted farm income will be reported as if the

person had filed a separate federal tax return and the

calculation is consistent with the information supporting

the filed joint return.

To request the increased payment limitation, participants

must file form FSA-510 certifying their average adjusted

gross farm income is at least 75% of their average AGI,

accompanied by a certification from a certified public

accountant (CPA) or attorney that the participant meets the

requirements. For more information, contact your local FSA 

service center. 

fsa.usda.gov 

AUGUST 2022 fsa.usda.gov