WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, released the following statement on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcing it will issue up to $10 billion in economic assistance to agricultural producers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) that was passed by Congress in December 2024. This follows a letter from Klobuchar, Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and 13 other Democratic Senators to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins calling on USDA to release this aid expeditiously, and to simplify the experience for farmers by leveraging existing loss data and pre-filling applications for producers.
“The Department of Agriculture’s announcement of critical economic assistance to farmers—including streamlining the process to get this aid out—is a positive development and something I requested along with other Senators. In addition, USDA must expeditiously implement natural disaster assistance and release other critical funding for farmers and ranchers.”
Congress authorized and funded $10 billion in economic assistance for row crop farmers as part of the American Relief Act, 2025, enacted in December 2024. This funding will provide assistance to eligible producers impacted by tightened margins in 2024. USDA announced it will be sending pre-filled applications to eligible producers who submitted acreage reports to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for 2024 eligible ECAP commodities, which Senator Klobuchar and other Democratic Senators called for. Once the sign-up period begins, farmers can also visit their local FSA service center or visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap to apply.
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