South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds is asking the USDA to clarify its crop insurance requirements for disaster programs.
Rounds sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins saying previous programs with ambiguous guidelines have caused issues for producers.
Congress has provided billions of dollars in recent years in additional appropriations to the USDA to fund temporary or ad hoc programs for losses not always covered under permanent programs. Because ad hoc programs respond to different natural disasters, participating producers encounter different eligibility rules and payment structures. Rounds said this has led to some farmers unintentionally filling out forms wrong, resulting in them having to pay back some disaster assistance payments.
“American farmers and ranchers are the backbone of this nation and consistently deal with a number of uncontrollable factors, including extreme weather and volatile markets," Rounds said. "Improving disaster assistance program guidelines will provide an additional certainty for American producers.”
This letter comes after Congress recently approved additional financial relief for farmers impacted by disasters in 2023 or 2024.