In 2020 and 2021, the U.S. experienced 42 disaster events that each resulted in damages of at least $1 billion, including hurricanes, drought and wildfires. The Emergency Relief Program (ERP) provides funds to assist commodity growers who suffered losses from natural disasters in 2020 and 2021.
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 ($322 million), soybeans ($309 million) and wheat ($268 million) 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 losses in revenue, quality or production as a result of moisture and drought that occurred during the 2020 and 2021 crop years.
The remaining top states receiving ERP payments were South Dakota ($567 million), Minnesota ($463 million) and Iowa ($408 million), which, together with North Dakota and Texas, represented approximately 48% of the total ERP payments disbursed as of January 2023. In early 2023, USDA launched a second phase of the ERP program, but disbursements from this phase are not included in these totals. — USDA Economic Research Service
