 Beginning January 23, 2023, agricultural producers can begin to apply for two new important programs for revenue losses, from 2020 and 2021 natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic. Both programs equitably fill gaps in earlier assistance.
First, you may be eligible for assistance through the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase Two if you experienced revenue losses from eligible natural disasters in 2020 and 2021. ERP Phase Two is for producers who didn’t receive assistance from ERP Phase One.
You may also be eligible for the Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP) if you experienced revenue losses in calendar year 2020. PARP is addressing gaps in previous pandemic assistance, which was targeted at price loss or lack of market access, rather than overall revenue losses.
Applications for both new programs are due June 2, 2023, and you can apply for both programs during your same appointment with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).
Historically, FSA programs have been designed to make direct payments to producers based on a single disaster event or for a single commodity loss. For many of you, this may be the first revenue-based program that you’ve applied for with FSA.
Why revenue-based programs?
ERP Phase Two and PARP take a much more holistic approach to disaster assistance, ensuring that producers not just make it through a single growing season but have the financial stability to invest in the long-term well-being of their operations and employees.
In general, ERP Phase Two payments are based on the difference in allowable gross revenue between a benchmark year, representing a typical year of revenue for the producer and the disaster year – designed to target the remaining needs of producers impacted by qualifying natural disasters and avoid duplicative payments. ERP Phase Two revenue loss is based on tax years.
For PARP, an agricultural producer must have been in the business of farming during at least part of the 2020 calendar year and had a decrease in revenue for the 2020 calendar year, as compared to a typical year. PARP revenue loss is based on calendar years.
How to Apply
In preparation for enrollment, producers should gather supporting documentation including:
- Schedule F (Form 1040); and
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Profit or Loss from Farming or similar tax documents for tax years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 for ERP and for calendar years 2018, 2019 and 2020 for PARP.
Producers should also have, or be prepared to have, the following forms on file for both ERP and PARP program participation:
- Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet (as applicable to the program participant);
- Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual or legal entity;
- Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities (if applicable); and
- Form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification.
- Form CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification, as certain existing permanent and ad-hoc disaster programs provide increased benefits or reduced fees and premiums.
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 FSA at their local USDA Service Center.
Yes, FSA is stepping outside of the box.
FSA is a big proponent of agricultural producers having a say in the design, implementation and delivery of the programs that directly impact their livelihoods. We also believe that some of the most creative and useful ideas for program and process improvements come from the FSA employees who administer this assistance through our network of more than 2,100 county offices. We want to thank producers across the country, along with the entire FSA workforce, for not just thinking outside of the box but also providing their input to make sure that we can improve and enhance our programs and our approach to assistance to better and more efficiently serve all producers who need our help.
Please visit your local USDA Service Center for more information on ERP Phase Two, PARP and our full portfolio of conservation, prices support, safety-net, credit and disaster assistance programs.
 Signup begins January 23 for additional emergency relief from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase Two.
To be eligible for Phase Two, producers must have suffered a decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020 or 2021 due to necessary expenses related to losses of eligible crops from a qualifying natural disaster event. Eligible crops include both traditional insurable commodities and specialty crops that are produced in the United States as part of a farming operation and are intended to be commercially marketed. This also includes losses of eligible on-farm stored commodities. ERP Phase 2 applicants will use the following tax years when selecting allowable gross revenue:
- Benchmark years: 2018 and/or 2019; estimated for new producers with no 2018 or 2019 revenue or adjusted if the benchmark years are not representative of the disaster year due to a change in operation size.
- Disaster years: 2020 and/or 2021. The allowable gross revenue for the specific disaster year will be based on the tax yearapplicable to that revenue (2020, 2021 or 2022).
The ERP tool assists producers in calculating allowable gross revenue, as well as adjusted revenue for the benchmark years 2018 and 2019, and allowable gross revenue for representative tax years 2020-2022 which represent disaster years 2020 and 2021. Once producers complete the allowable gross revenue entries, they are able to print forms FSA-521 and FSA-521A through this tool.
The ERP Phase 2 and PARP application period is open from January 23 through June 2 2023.
For more information on payment calculations, payment limitations or how to determine allowable gross revenue, please reference the ERP Phase 2 fact sheet.
The Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP) will assist eligible producers of agricultural commodities who experienced revenue decreases in calendar year 2020 compared to 2018 or 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PARP will help address gaps in previous pandemic assistance, which was targeted at price loss or lack of market access, rather than overall revenue losses.
USDA's Farm Service Agency will accept PARP applications from January 23, 2023, through June 2, 2023.
Eligible and Ineligible Commodities
For PARP, eligible agricultural commodities include crops, aquaculture, livestock, livestock byproducts, or other animals or animal byproducts that are produced as part of a farming operation and are intended to be commercially marketed. This includes only commodities produced in the United States or those produced outside the United States by a producer located in the United States and marketed inside the United States.
The following commodities are not eligible for PARP:
- Wild free-roaming animals.
- Horses and other animals used or intended to be used for racing or wagering.
- Aquatic species that do not meet the definition of aquaculture.
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Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant that does not meet the definition of hemp.
- Timber.
Program Eligibility
PARP payments will be made on a whole-farm basis, not commodity-by-commodity. To be eligible for PARP, an agricultural producer must have been in the business of farming during at least part of the 2020 calendar year and must have experienced a 15 percent decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020, as compared to either:
- The 2018 or 2019 calendar year, as elected by the producer, if they received allowable gross revenue during the 2018 or 2019 calendar years, or
- The producer’s expected 2020 calendar year allowable gross revenue, if the producer had no allowable gross revenue in 2018 or 2019.
PARP payments will be issued after the application period ends on June 2, 2023.
For more information on determining allowable gross revenue visit farmers.gov/coronavirus/pandemic-assistance/parp or review the PARP fact sheet.
More Information
To apply for PARP, contact your local USDA Service Center.
Signup has started for two new programs that have been announced by the Farm Service Agency. These two programs are Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase 2 and Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP). These are revenue-based programs, which is a different approach than previous FSA disaster programs. Due to this we need all producers interested in applying to start by going to Emergency Relief Program (usda.gov) and Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program | Farmers.gov to do their research on these 2 new programs. Producers will need to review the ERP2 fact sheet fsa_erp_factsheet_22.pdf (usda.gov) and workbook tool erp_tool_version_1_2_final.xlsm (live.com) before you can apply for the ERP2 program. For PARP please review the fact sheet found here: fsa_parp_factsheet_22_012423.pdf (usda.gov). Since these are revenue-based programs, the financial data you will need to apply will come from your taxes and therefore many of your questions will need to be directed towards your tax professionals. We will be happy to help explain the program and how it works as always, but we cannot review your financial records. After you have your research done and figures ready contact our office to apply. The deadline to apply is June 2, 2023. A producer may apply for one or both of these programs.
Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase 2 Highlights:
- ERP Phase 2 was developed to fill in the gaps that Phase 1 did not cover and provide possible assistance to producers who did not have crop insurance.
- Covers losses to crops, trees, bushes and vines due to a qualifying natural disaster event in the calendar years of 2020 and 2021.
- The crop loss must have resulted in a decrease in gross revenue
- Phase 2 is a tax year-based certification program that provides assistance for producers that suffered a loss in revenue due to necessary expenses associated with losses of eligible crops due to a qualifying disaster event that occurred in 2020 or 2021 calendar year
- Qualifying disaster:
- Wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze, smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought
- Program utilizes:
- Benchmark years: 2018 or 2019
- Disaster years: 2020 and/or 2021
- The Benchmark Year Revenue best represents a typical year of revenue for the producers' operation.
- This is a self-certification program which will require preparation work by the producer to complete the application process. This includes locating the supporting documentation that is used in creation of the IRS Schedule F, as well as a copy of the FSA-1099G for the selected benchmark and disaster years. The producer will need these documents to fill out the application accurately. Please DO NOT bring these documents to the FSA office as we cannot help you decide what is and what is not allowable gross revenue.
- Allowable gross revenue is determined using the table found on pages 4-5 of the ERP 2 Fact sheet for the selected benchmark and disaster year(s)
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Please see the chart on page 4 and 5 of the fact sheet to see what can and cannot be included for allowable gross revenue. If you have questions on this please contact your tax professional. fsa_erp_factsheet_22.pdf (usda.gov)
- Representative Tax Year: This will depend on what months are included in a producers’ tax year and how that relates to the disaster year.
- The 2020 or 2021 tax year used as the representative revenue year for the 2020 disaster year.
- The 2021 or 2022 tax year used as the representative revenue year for the 2021 disaster year.
- If producer applies for assistance under Disaster Year 2020 and 2021 they cannot use the same tax year for both disaster years.
- A person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or general partnership, cannot receive, more than $125,000 in payments (for Phase 1 and Phase 2 combined)
- All producers who receive ERP payments, are required to purchase crop insurance for the next available crop years.
- Link to the fact sheets, applications, and workbook tool below
Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP) Highlights:
- PARP provides direct financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who suffered at least a 15% loss in gross revenue in calendar year 2020 compared to 2018 or 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To be eligible, an agricultural producer must have been in the business of farming during at least part of the 2020 calendar year and had a 15% loss in allowable gross revenue for the 2020 calendar year, as compared to:
- 2018 or 2019, elected by the producer. Or the producers expected 2020 calendar year allowable gross revenue if the producer had no allowable gross revenue in 2018 or 2019.
- Eligible commodities would be an agricultural commodity such as a crop, aquaculture, livestock, livestock byproduct, or other animals or animal by-product that is produced as part of a farming operation and is intended to be commercially marketed.
- Allowable gross revenue includes all revenue a producer received on a “cash basis” during the applicable calendar year and reported to the IRS on schedule F or some other Federal tax form
- does NOT include cost or expenses associated with revenue generated by the farming operation
- must have been received from the production or sale of an ag commodity and produced in the U.S.
- Link to the fact sheets, applications, and workbook tool below: https://www.farmers.gov/coronavirus/pandemic-assistance/parp
All applications to ERP2 and PARP are subject to spotcheck.
Agricultural producers can now change election and enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage programs for the 2023 crop year, two key safety net programs offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Signup began Oct. 17, 2022, and producers have until March 15, 2023, to enroll in these two programs. Additionally, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has started issuing payments totaling more than $255 million to producers with 2021 crops that have triggered payments through ARC or PLC.
2023 Elections and Enrollment
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County (ARC-CO) or PLC, which provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual (ARC-IC), which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2023 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm and makes an election change for 2023, they must sign a new contract.
If producers do not submit their election by the March 15, 2023 deadline, their election remains the same as their 2022 election for crops on the farm. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.
Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
Web-Based Decision Tools
In partnership with USDA, the University of Illinois and Texas A&M University offer web-based decision tools to assist producers in making informed, educated decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations. Tools include:
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Gardner-farmdoc Payment Calculator, a tool available through the University of Illinois allows producers to estimate payments for farms and counties for ARC-CO and PLC.
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ARC and PLC Decision Tool, a tool available through Texas A&M that allows producers to obtain basic information regarding the decision and factors that should be taken into consideration such as future commodity prices and historic yields to estimate payments for 2022.
2021 Payments and Contracts
ARC and PLC payments for a given crop year are paid out the following fall to allow actual county yields and the Market Year Average prices to be finalized. This month, FSA processed payments to producers enrolled in 2021 ARC-CO, ARC-IC and PLC for covered commodities that triggered for the crop year.
For ARC-CO, producers can view the 2021 ARC-CO Benchmark Yields and Revenues online database, for payment rates applicable to their county and each covered commodity. For PLC, payments have triggered for rapeseed and peanuts.
For ARC-IC, producers should contact their local FSA office for additional information pertaining to 2021 payment information, which relies on producer-specific yields for the crop and farm to determine benchmark yields and actual year yields when calculating revenues.
By the Numbers
In 2021, producers signed nearly 1.8 million ARC or PLC contracts, and 251 million out of 273 million base acres were enrolled in the programs. For the 2022 crop year signed contracts surpassed 1.8 million, to be paid in the fall of 2023, if a payment triggers.
Since ARC and PLC were first authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill, these safety-net programs have paid out more than $34.9 billion to producers of covered commodities.
Crop Insurance Considerations
ARC and PLC are part of a broader safety net provided by USDA, which also includes crop insurance and marketing assistance loans.
Producers are reminded that ARC and PLC elections and enrollments can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products.
Producers on farms with a PLC election have the option of purchasing Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through their Approved Insurance Provider; however, producers on farms where ARC is the election are ineligible for SCO on their planted acres for that crop on that farm.
Unlike SCO, the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is unaffected by an ARC election. Producers may add ECO regardless of the farm program election.
Upland cotton farmers who choose to enroll seed cotton base acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible for the stacked income protection plan (STAX) on their planted cotton acres for that farm.
More Information
For more information on ARC and PLC, visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact your local USDA Service Center.
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When changes in farm ownership or operation take place, a farm reconstitution is necessary. The reconstitution — or recon — is the process of combining or dividing farms or tracts of land based on the farming operation.
To be effective for the current Fiscal Year (FY), farm combinations and farm divisions must be requested by August 1 of the FY for farms subject to the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. A reconstitution is considered to be requested when all of the required signatures are on FSA-155 and all other applicable documentation, such as proof of ownership, is submitted.
Total Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and non-ARC/PLC farms may be reconstituted at any time.
The following are the different methods used when doing a farm recon:
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Estate Method — the division of bases, allotments and quotas for a parent farm among heirs in settling an estate
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Designation of Landowner Method — may be used when (1) part of a farm is sold or ownership is transferred; (2) an entire farm is sold to two or more persons; (3) farm ownership is transferred to two or more persons; (4) part of a tract is sold or ownership is transferred; (5) a tract is sold to two or more persons; or (6) tract ownership is transferred to two or more persons. In order to use this method, the land sold must have been owned for at least three years, or a waiver granted, and the buyer and seller must sign a Memorandum of Understanding
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DCP Cropland Method — the division of bases in the same proportion that the DCP cropland for each resulting tract relates to the DCP cropland on the parent tract
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Default Method — the division of bases for a parent farm with each tract maintaining the bases attributed to the tract level when the reconstitution is initiated in the system.
For questions on your farm reconstitution, contact the Benton County USDA Service Center at 319-472-5274.
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Benton County Committee Meeting: March 21, 2023 at 8 am at the Benton County USDA Service Center.
- Questions? Contact Amie Bill at 319-472-5274.
- If you would need to request an accommodation, please contact Amie Bill at amie.bill@usda.gov by March 10th to request accommodations (e.g., an interpreter, translator, seating arrangements, etc.) or materials in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape – captioning, etc.).
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Benton County Soil and Water Conservation District Meeting: March 15, 2023 at 10 am (location to be determined).
- Questions? Contact Michelle German at michelle.german@usda.gov.
- If you would need to request an accommodation, please contact Michelle German at michelle.german@usda.gov by February 10th to request accommodations (e.g., an interpreter, translator, seating arrangements, etc.) or materials in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape – captioning, etc.).
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