USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced plans this week to expedite $21 billion in disaster assistance to aid farmers and ranchers across the country following several natural disasters.

Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, Rollins announced that the online portal allowing farmers to apply for disaster assistance will be launched on the USDA website by the end of May. The program will be funded by the American Relief Act, which passed through Congress in December 2024. Program funds total approximately $21 billion.

Rollins underscored the complexity of distributing disaster aid as cause for the delay, noting that it involves negotiating agreements with individual state governments tasked with delivering the funds. She explained that this process is significantly more intricate than the distribution of the $10 billion in market-related assistance previously provided through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program.

ASA President Caleb Ragland, a soybean grower from Kentucky, said, “ASA appreciates USDA’s continuous work to coordinate the distribution of disaster assistance that will help restore some stability to rural communities that have endured devastating hurricanes, floods, fires and other natural disasters.”

A disaster assistance timeline can be found on USDA’s website here. ASA will continue to serve as a resource as these funds are rolled out.