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USDA’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced the availability of funding under the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP)…a new initiative authorized by the American Relief Act of 2025. This program will provide economic assistance payments to eligible producers of specified commodities impacted by natural disasters and economic hardships during the 2024 crop year.
ECAP will allocate up to $10 billion in direct payments to support farmers facing financial challenges, helping sustain family farms and agricultural security nationwide.
Key Details:
- Application Period: Open from the Federal Register publication date through August 15, 2025.
- Eligible Commodities: Barley, corn, cotton, lentils, peanuts, rice, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, and more.
- Payment Calculation: Payments will be based on acreage and economic loss calculations as defined by USDA, with prorated distributions to ensure funds availability.
- Payment Limits: Maximum assistance of $125,000 or $250,000, depending on a producer’s farm income.
Producers must submit an FSA-63 ECAP application by the deadline and ensure all acreage reports and supporting documentation are filed. Pre-filled applications will be provided to eligible producers based on prior acreage reporting.
Of note: Eligible producers can go into their county FSA office as soon as Wednesday to finalize the application, or they will likely arrive in the mail on Thursday or Friday this week. Producers will receive direct deposit payments around three days after their paperwork is accepted.
To calculate a producer’s ECAP payment, FSA will multiply the payment rate for an eligible commodity by the producer’s eligible acres of that eligible commodity. FSA will issue eligible ECAP payments as applications are approved. ECAP payments will be prorated by 85% percent to ensure that payments do not exceed the available funding. FSA may issue an additional payment if additional funding remains available after initial prorated ECAP payments are issued to eligible producers based upon the terms of this NOFA and applications received by the closing date.
For commodities for which the Secretary determines there is insufficient data from the USDA sources noted above, the American Relief Act, 2025, provides that the Secretary will determine a comparable estimate of gross returns and a comparable total estimated cost of production. Eligible commodities that do not have a price projection available in WASDE, nor a cost-of-production forecast in the “national average cost-of production forecasts for major U.S. field crops,” include pulse crops (large chickpeas, small chickpeas, dry peas, lentils) and certain oilseeds (canola, crambe, flax, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame, sunflower). Peanuts do not have a price forecast published in the WASDE. For commodities not available in the WASDE, price projections for the 2024-2025 marketing year were taken from the ARC/PLC 2024 Market Year Average Prices web posting as of January 2025. This is the only data set published by USDA that provides crop year price forecasts for those crops that are not included in the WASDE, and these prices are determined using similar methods as WASDE forecasts.
Regarding cost of production data for pulses and certain oilseeds, USDA researched and evaluated agricultural extension budgets and other sources. These budgets were not used as they are based on differing computational methodologies, can be outdated, and can vary considerably across states even with seemingly similar production environments. Instead, national average costs of production for pulses and certain oilseeds were estimated based on a statistical equation involving crops with complete data. After the equation was estimated, analysts applied the resulting coefficients to the 10-year NASS average harvested yield and the ARC/PLC 2024 market year average price of each commodity with incomplete data. These sources provide the best data available reflecting market conditions for crops with incomplete data and were used in the estimated equation to provide production cost estimates for these crops. These resulting production costs are reflected in Table 3, column c, and the calculation of the payment rate follows the same methodology as shown above for corn.
See our Special Report for more details.
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed earlier today to a proposal by President Donald Trump for a month-long halt to strikes against energy infrastructure in Ukraine but stopped short of accepting a full U.S. backed 30-day ceasefire.
Talks aimed at advancing toward a broader peace plan will begin immediately, the White House said following a lengthy call between the two leaders.
Putin ordered the Russian military to stop attacks against energy sites after speaking with Trump, according to a statement by the Kremlin. But he again raised concerns during the call that a temporary ceasefire might allow Ukraine to mobilize more soldiers and rearm itself. Putin also emphasized that any resolution of the conflict would require an end to all military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, the Kremlin added.
In a social media post following the 90-minute phone call between Vladimir Putin and President Trump, Trump noted both parties agreed to work quickly toward a ceasefire and eventually a permanent peace agreement.