SDRP: Supplemental Disaster Relief Program for 2023 and 2024 Crop Losses
Deadline: April 30, 2026
Both Stage 1 and Stage 2 applications must be on file by close of business April 30, 2026. If you had crop, tree, bush, or vine losses in 2023 or 2024 from a qualifying natural disaster and you have not applied yet, call your local FSA office this week.
If FSA already mailed you a pre-filled Stage 1 application, you still need to return it by that same deadline for your payment to be issued. Find your local FSA office or call 1-877-508-8364.
Last Updated: April 2026 | Source: USDA-FSA, USDA-RMA, 7 CFR Part 760
This is a free guide, not financial or legal advice. Always verify with your local USDA office. Report an error
The Short Version
SDRP is a one-time federal program authorized by the American Relief Act of 2025 that may pay producers for crop, tree, bush, vine, and hay/forage losses from qualifying natural disasters in 2023 or 2024. About $16 billion is appropriated for SDRP alone. Livestock losses are covered by separate programs (ELRP, LIP, LFP, ELAP), not SDRP.
The program runs in two stages. Stage 1 is for losses already documented through federal crop insurance or NAP. FSA mails pre-filled applications to eligible producers and the math is done for you. Stage 2 is for shallow losses below the crop insurance trigger, uninsured crop losses, and quality losses. Stage 2 requires form FSA-504 at your local FSA office with your own documentation.
The deadline is April 30, 2026 for both stages. There is no extension announced. Producers in Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, and Massachusetts receive assistance through state block grants rather than SDRP directly.
Quick Facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Who runs it | USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) |
| Authorizing law | American Relief Act of 2025 (P.L. 118-158) |
| Loss years covered | 2023 and 2024 (calendar years) only |
| What is covered | Crops (including hay and baled forage), trees, bushes, vines |
| What is NOT covered | Livestock losses, timber, and acreage with intended use of grazing (PRF pasture, Annual Forage). See livestock disaster programs. |
| Application deadline | April 30, 2026 (both stages) |
| Stage 1 sign-up | Open since July 10, 2025 |
| Stage 2 sign-up | Open since November 24, 2025 |
| Initial payment factor | 35% of calculated loss; second payment possible if funds remain |
| Stage 2 form | FSA-504 at local county office |
| Payment limit | $125,000 general; up to $250,000 or $900,000 with AGI ≥75% from farming |
Stage 1: Insured Losses (Pre-Filled by FSA)
What It Is
Stage 1 uses records FSA and RMA already have. If you filed a federal crop insurance claim or a NAP claim for a 2023 or 2024 loss tied to a qualifying disaster, FSA pulled those records, calculated your SDRP amount, and mailed you a pre-filled application.
The Payment Formula
For each insured crop and loss year:
(Expected crop value × SDRP factor) − value of production − net crop insurance indemnity = calculated loss. Calculated loss × 35% = initial payment.
The SDRP factor replaces the coverage level the producer carried. Higher coverage levels receive a higher SDRP factor: the top tier is 87.5% for producers who carried meaningful buy-up coverage. The complete factor schedule by coverage level is in 7 CFR 760.2208(b). Your FSA office can show you the exact factor used in your calculation.
Stacking cap: total SDRP payment plus any net crop insurance indemnity cannot exceed 90% of the loss.
What You Need to Do
- Check your mail. If you had an insured loss in 2023 or 2024, FSA mailed a pre-filled application. If you did not receive one and you think you qualify, call your FSA office.
- Review the numbers. FSA's calculation pulls from RMA and NAP data. If something looks off, talk to FSA before signing.
- Sign and return by April 30, 2026. In person, by fax, email, or through the FSA Box/One document-upload systems.
- Agree to the forward linkage. Accepting SDRP requires you to carry federal crop insurance or NAP at 60% coverage or higher for the next two available crop years on the affected crops.
Who Is Excluded From Stage 1
Producers who already received an ERP 2022 Track 1 payment (2023 crop year) or Track 2 payment (based on 2023 AGR) for the same loss are excluded from Stage 1 for that loss. This is FSA preventing duplicate payments.
Stage 2: Shallow, Uninsured, and Quality Losses
What It Is
Stage 2 is for losses that did not trigger a crop insurance indemnity. Three common scenarios:
- Shallow losses: you had crop insurance or NAP, your loss was real, but it fell below your policy's deductible. Stage 2 may still pay something.
- Uncovered crops: you grew a crop (or operated an orchard, vineyard, or berry patch) that had no federal crop insurance or NAP in place. Stage 2 can cover the loss at a lower factor.
- Quality losses: your crop produced in acceptable volume but the quality was diminished by the disaster event. Forage quality loss is documented with TDN testing; other crops use grading factors and price discounts at point of sale.
Payment Factors
| Situation | SDRP Factor |
|---|---|
| Crop insured or covered by NAP, shallow loss below trigger | 75% |
| Crop, tree, bush, or vine with no insurance/NAP coverage | 70% |
Like Stage 1, the initial payment is 35% of the calculated amount. The 90% stacking cap still applies.
How to Apply
- Call or visit your local FSA office. Stage 2 is not mailed out. You have to start the conversation.
- Complete form FSA-504 (SDRP Stage 2 Application). FSA staff can pre-populate parts of it from RMA and NAP data where available.
- Bring supporting documentation: FSA-578 acreage reports, AD-1026 (HELC/wetland certification), CCC-902/CCC-901 (entity and payment eligibility), and CCC-860 if you qualify as a socially disadvantaged, limited-resource, beginning, or veteran producer. If your AGI-from-farming unlocks a higher payment limit, you will also need FSA-510.
- For quality losses: bring TDN test results (forage) or grading tickets and sales receipts showing the price discount (other crops).
- File by April 30, 2026. FSA accepts applications in person, by fax, email, or through Box/One.
Who Qualifies
Qualifying Disaster Events
SDRP covers losses from: wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including polar vortex events), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, and related conditions.
Drought threshold: county at D2 (severe drought) for 8 consecutive weeks on the U.S. Drought Monitor, or D3 (extreme) or worse at any point during the calendar year.
Crop Insurance Is Not Required
You do not need to have carried crop insurance or NAP to receive SDRP. Uninsured losses are paid at a lower factor (70%), but they are paid. If you carried coverage, you receive a higher factor.
Forward Linkage
Accepting an SDRP payment requires you to purchase federal crop insurance or NAP at 60% coverage or higher on the affected crop for the next two available crop years. If you drop coverage early, FSA can recover the SDRP payment.
Compliance Requirements
- AD-1026 on file: HELC (highly erodible land) and wetland compliance certification.
- AGI rule: adjusted gross income over $900,000 does not disqualify you, but it caps your payment (see below).
- Duplicate payment: if you already received ERP 2022 for the same 2023 loss, Stage 1 is unavailable for that loss.
Payment Limits
Combined Stage 1 + Stage 2, per program year, per person or entity:
| Producer type | AGI from farming < 75% | AGI from farming ≥ 75% |
|---|---|---|
| Specialty crops (fruit, vegetable, nuts, floriculture) | $125,000 | $900,000 |
| All other crops | $125,000 | $250,000 |
To access the higher AGI-from-farming cap, producers file form FSA-510. The reference tax years for the 2024 loss year are 2020–2022; for the 2023 loss year they are 2019–2021. Your FSA office or CPA can verify which years apply to your filing.
Block-Grant States
Producers in Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, and Massachusetts receive 2023/2024 natural-disaster assistance through a separate $220 million state block-grant program, not through SDRP. If you farm in one of these four states, contact your state department of agriculture for block-grant application details rather than FSA for SDRP.
What About Hay and Forage?
Hay and Mechanically Harvested Forage: Eligible
Under 7 CFR 760.2202, a forage crop means a plant grown and used to feed livestock that is harvested and processed into forms like hay, silage, or green chop. Hay and other mechanically harvested forage are treated as crops under SDRP. That includes alfalfa, grass hay, mixed hay, silage corn, and similar forage crops.
If your hay or forage acreage had FCIP (federal crop insurance) or NAP coverage available in 2023 or 2024, and you had a qualifying loss — drought (county D2 for 8 consecutive weeks, or D3 or worse at any point), wildfire, hail, freeze, flood, or similar event — your loss may qualify for SDRP. Ranchers in drought counties with hay crop losses should ask FSA about this even if their operation is primarily livestock.
Grazed Pasture, Rangeland, and Annual Forage: Excluded
Acreage whose intended use is grazing is excluded from SDRP. That covers Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) grazing acres, Annual Forage policy acres, and forage-seeding policies. Grazing losses on those acres are addressed through livestock programs (LFP, ELAP) rather than SDRP.
The Intent Test
Eligibility keys off intended use, not actual use. Two examples:
- Intended mechanical harvest, later grazed: hay crop that you planned to cut but ended up grazing because of drought — still SDRP-eligible (FSA applies an "unharvested" payment factor).
- Intended grazing, killed before grazing: pasture you planned to graze that was destroyed by a late freeze — not SDRP-eligible, because the intended use was grazing.
Your FSA county office checks your acreage reporting records (FSA-578) to see what the reported intended use was for 2023 and 2024. Bring that history if you’re filing Stage 2.
What About Livestock?
SDRP does not cover livestock losses. Producers with 2023 or 2024 livestock losses should look at:
- ELRP (Emergency Livestock Relief Program): paid for 2023 and 2024 livestock losses from drought, wildfire, and flood. FSA issued final ELRP payments in February 2026 — that program is effectively closed.
- LIP (Livestock Indemnity Program): permanent program for death losses from weather or predators.
- LFP (Livestock Forage Program): permanent program for grazing losses from drought.
- ELAP: permanent program for feed, water, and other livestock costs above normal.
A producer with both crop and livestock losses in 2023 or 2024 may have received, or may still be eligible for, payments from both SDRP (for crops) and ELRP/LIP/LFP/ELAP (for livestock).
Common Mistakes
- Assuming the pre-filled Stage 1 application is optional. It is not. If you want the payment, sign and return it by April 30, 2026. FSA does not issue Stage 1 payments without a signed application on file.
- Skipping Stage 2 because "I already got crop insurance." If your actual loss was bigger than your crop insurance indemnity, Stage 2 may pay the shallow-loss portion. Ask FSA to run the numbers before you assume.
- Waiting until late April to start Stage 2. Stage 2 requires your own documentation. Quality-loss claims with TDN tests or grading evidence take time to pull together. Start now.
- Not knowing the forward-linkage requirement. You commit to carrying 60% crop insurance or NAP for two years when you accept SDRP. Build that premium into your next two operating budgets.
- Missing the deadline for a contested calculation. If you disagree with FSA's Stage 1 math, talk to your county office right away. Appeals and corrections still need to land within the deadline window.
- Ranchers assuming SDRP is crops-only and skipping it. If you grow hay, silage, or mechanically harvested forage, those are crops. A drought-hit hay crop in a D2+/D3 county can qualify. Ask FSA, even if your main operation is livestock.
What to Do
If you received a pre-filled Stage 1 application: review it, sign it, and return it to FSA before April 30, 2026. Do this now, not the week of.
If you had a 2023 or 2024 loss and have heard nothing: call your local FSA office this week and ask whether you should be in Stage 1, Stage 2, or both. Find your local office.
If you had shallow, uninsured, or quality losses: request FSA-504, gather your acreage reports and loss documentation, and file Stage 2 by April 30, 2026.
If you farm in Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, or Massachusetts: ask your state department of agriculture about the block-grant program, not FSA.
SDRP is a rare one-time program tied to two specific loss years. If you were in a qualifying disaster in 2023 or 2024 and you have not engaged with FSA yet, the two weeks between now and April 30 matter.
- All disaster programs at a glance (livestock, infrastructure, crops)
- NAP coverage for crops without federal crop insurance
- Federal crop insurance overview
- FSA official SDRP page
- Find your local FSA office
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