PUBLIC NOTICE – USDA Announces New Programs to fill gaps in 2020/2021 Natural Disaster Assistance

USDA Announces New Programs to fill gaps in 2020/2021 Natural Disaster Assistance (Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase 2) and 2020 Pandemic Assistance (Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP).  

(Dandridge, Tennessee), March 29, 2023 – USDA announced two new programs that wrap-up and fill remaining gaps in previous natural disaster and pandemic assistance. To be eligible for ERP Phase Two, producers must have suffered a decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020 or 2021 due to necessary expenses related to losses of eligible crops from a qualifying natural disaster event. Assistance will be primarily to producers of crops that were not covered by Federal Crop Insurance or NAP, since crops covered by Federal Crop Insurance and NAP were included in the assistance under ERP Phase One.

To be eligible for PARP, an agricultural producer must have been in the business of farming during at least part of the 2020 calendar year and had a 15% or greater decrease in allowable gross revenue for the 2020 calendar year, as compared to a baseline year.

The ERP Phase 2 and PARP application period is opened January 23, 2023, and will continue through June 2, 2023. For more information, producers should contact their local USDA service center or reference the ERP Phase Two Fact Sheet, PARP Fact Sheet or the ERP Phase Two-PARP Comparison Fact Sheet.

Producers may apply for ERP Phase 2 and PARP benefits at their local FSA office. Please contact the Jefferson/Sevier/Cocke County FSA office at 865-397-3151 or come by the office at 321 Hwy 92 South, Dandridge, TN 37725.