Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. led a letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration urging leadership to include funding for a disaster program to address 2023 agricultural losses as they begin the stages of drafting the Fiscal Year 2025 funding bill.
Simultaneously, Senator Marshall introduced legislation with a specific aim to ensure proper guardrails on the funding. This legislation addresses concerns with USDA’s emergency relief payment program, which applied a “progressive payment factor” that ultimately paid more to absentee landlords than full-time farm families. The legislation would require USDA to provide these funds in a manner that mirrors a previous, widely praised, program.
The American Farm Bureau Federation estimated that agricultural losses in 2023 exceeded $21 billion, with roughly half of this amount not covered by crop insurance or the noninsurance crop disaster assistance program. These severe losses significantly harm farmers, ranchers, and producers nationwide.
“The National Sorghum Producers strongly supports Senator Marshall’s legislation and letter to create an Emergency Relief Program for 2023 losses,” National Sorghum Producers Chairman Craig Meeker said. “Farm and ranch families from across the country were hurt by natural disasters last year but perhaps none so much as those producers dealing with multiple years of losses due to severe and chronic drought. Senator Marshall’s request would ensure that ERP is properly implemented so help gets to the farm and ranch families most impacted by production losses. We commend Senator Marshall for his hard work and urge his colleagues in Congress to pass this important legislation.”
You may click HERE to read Senator Marshall’s full bill text.
You may click HERE to read Senator Marshall’s full letter.