By TAMMIE SLOUP

FarmWeek

Applications are open for a piece of $10 billion in economic assistance available through a new USDA program.

The Emergency Commodity Assistance Program provides payments to help farmers mitigate high input costs and low commodity prices from the 2024 crop year.

Authorized by the American Relief Act of 2025, payments are based on planted and prevented planted crop acres for eligible commodities. To streamline the process, Farm Service Agency will begin sending pre-filled applications to farmers who submitted acreage reports to FSA for 2024 eligible ECAP commodities. However, farmers do not have to wait for their pre-filled ECAP application to apply and can visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap to apply using a login.gov account or contact their local FSA office to request an application.

Farmers must submit ECAP applications to their local FSA county office by Aug. 15.

Eligible commodities include wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, extra long staple cotton, long grain rice, medium grain rice, peanuts, soybeans, other oilseeds, dry peas, lentils, small chickpeas and large chickpeas.

Initial ECAP payments will be factored by 85 percent to ensure total program payments do not exceed available funding. If additional funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.

ECAP assistance will be calculated using a flat payment rate for the eligible commodity multiplied by the eligible reported acres. Payments are based on acreage and not production. For acres reported as prevented plant, ECAP assistance will be calculated at 50 percent.

FSA has calculated a payment rate for each eligible commodity, including $42.91 per acre for corn, $29.76 for soybeans and $30.69 for wheat.

For payment estimates, farmers can visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap to use the ECAP online calculator.

Eligible producers must report 2024 crop year planted and prevented planted acres to FSA on an FSA-578, Report of Acreage form. Producers who have not previously reported 2024 crop year acreage or filed a notice of loss for prevented planted crops must submit an acreage report by the Aug. 15 deadline.

ECAP payments will be issued as applications are approved, with farmers receiving direct deposits typically within three business days.

“The state of the economy is suffering, but we’re excited to work with you to chart a new course for American agriculture, this is just one step in that direction,” Brooke Appleton, deputy under secretary for farm production and conservation, said during a recent press briefing.

Payments are capped at $125,000 if less than 75 percent of the average gross income of the person or legal entity for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 tax years is derived from farming. 

Otherwise, the cap is $250,000.

For more information, visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap or visit your local FSA office. To contact the FSA office in Waterloo call 618-939-6181.

This story was distributed through a cooperative project between the Illinois Farm Bureau and Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.