Arkansas Farmers Could See More Than $150m in Disaster Relief

By Mary Hightower

Arkansas farmers being squeezed hard by higher fuel and input prices this year could see more than $150 million in total disaster relief with a second round of Supplemental Disaster Relief Program payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  

In announcing the additional Supplemental Disaster Relief Program payments last Friday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins also said the deadline to apply for relief will be extended from April 30 to August 12.  

The SDRP payments go to eligible producers with approved program applications for losses due to natural disasters in calendar years 2023 and 2024. USDA’s Farm Service Agency has already provided $6.7 billion in SDRP payments to eligible producers. The extended deadline aims to give producers and FSA more time to address any program application changes that could impact payments.

“As of April 24, SDRP payments to Arkansas farmers totaled around $76 million,”  Hunter Biram, extension economist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said on Tuesday. “Assuming a doubling of the payment rate from 35 percent to 70 percent, total payments to Arkansas farmers would total around $152 million.  

“The first 35 percent of these payments covered economic and disaster-related losses in 2023 and 2024 and were received mostly in 2025,” he said.  

“To put this into perspective, farm income for row crops was at a loss of around $750 million after accounting for other assistance received in 2025,” Biram said. “This ‘top up’ over the initial SDRP payments from USDA will cover around 10 percent of this negative net farm income.” 

Over the past year, USDA has made more than $17.9 billion in supplemental disaster assistance available to U.S. farmers and ranchers, as mandated by Congress in the American Relief Act of 2025. In addition to the $6.7 billion in SDRP payments, USDA has provided approximately $9.3 billion through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program and nearly $1.9 billion through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program.