Senators Push for Fair Disaster Relief for Small-scale Farmers
U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, and Richard Blumenthal, along with their colleagues, have urged USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to ensure that small farmers receive fair access to the $21 billion in emergency aid secured last December.
The Senators emphasized that small farms, particularly those growing multiple crops without crop-specific insurance, struggle with disaster relief access due to complicated application processes and a lack of proper loss data.
“Many small farms grow multiple crops--including fruit and vegetable varieties that do not have crop-specific insurance options--making it more difficult to purchase crop insurance and subsequently, more difficult to collect and report loss data for emergency programs if they are uninsured. We have also heard from our producers that in previous emergency funding assistance programs provided by USDA, applications were burdensome and difficult to navigate,” the Senators wrote.
To address these concerns, the Senators called for increased USDA technical assistance to help farmers complete applications and ensure equitable distribution of funds. They also requested updates on how the USDA will provide this support despite reduced staffing.
Additionally, they urged the agency to set aside funds for small farmers who face delays due to complex claims.
The Senators further recommended that USDA assist affected farmers in obtaining crop insurance for future protection, compensate uninsured farmers based on farm-specific revenue losses, and publish detailed data on disaster aid distribution.
The letter was co-signed by Senators Jeff Merkley, Adam Schiff, Ben Ray Luján, Tina Smith, Michael Bennet, Raphael Warnock, and Alex Padilla. They requested a status update on these measures by March 31, 2025.
Click here to access the full letter.