U.S. Senator Mike Rounds has called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish clear crop insurance requirements for disaster assistance programs. In a letter addressed to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Rounds expressed concerns about previous ambiguous guidelines that led producers to return portions of their disaster assistance payments.
Rounds highlighted that Congress has allocated billions in supplemental appropriations to USDA for temporary or ad hoc programs addressing losses not covered under permanent schemes. However, due to varying eligibility rules and payment structures across these programs, confusion has arisen among producers. This was evident in Phase 2 of the Emergency Reserve Program (ERP), where applicants were required to list “all eligible yield-based crops that could have been affected by a qualifying disaster event.” Many producers mistakenly believed only impacted acres needed listing, resulting in incorrect acreage amounts on applications.
In December 2024, Congress passed additional disaster assistance funds for losses sustained in 2023 and 2024. Rounds urged USDA to consider ERP 2’s lessons while preparing for the next application cycle. He stated, “As USDA prepares to allocate additional disaster assistance, it is my hope the agency will consider the lessons of ERP 2 when preparing for the next application cycle.”
The senator emphasized that American farmers and ranchers are vital to the nation but face uncontrollable factors like extreme weather and volatile markets. Clearer guidelines would offer them more certainty.
In his letter, Rounds congratulated Rollins on her confirmation as Secretary of Agriculture and expressed his eagerness to work together on issues affecting South Dakota producers.
