Agricultural Emergency Relief Act of 2025

This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish an Emergency Relief Program to provide payments each crop year to producers that experience a qualified loss as a result of a disaster that occurred during the crop year.

As background, USDA provided payments under a temporary Emergency Relief Program for losses that occurred following disasters in 2020, 2021, or 2022.

The bill defines a qualified loss as a loss incurred by a producer in a crop, trees, bushes, or vines as a consequence of a disaster (i.e., a drought, wildfire, hurricane, flood, derecho, excessive heat, excessive moisture, a winter storm, and a freeze event, including a polar vortex). Further, a qualified loss includes a loss incurred as a result of being prevented from planting a crop due to a disaster and a loss in the quality of a crop, trees, bushes, or vines due to a disaster or smoke exposure from a wildfire.

As a condition of receiving a payment under this program, a producer must purchase (for the next two years) Federal Crop Insurance or, if Federal Crop Insurance is not available, coverage under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.

Summary by the Congressional Research Service.