Agricultural Emergency Relief Act of 2023

The Agricultural Emergency Relief Act of 2023 establishes a new program to provide payments to farmers who suffer crop losses from qualifying disasters like droughts, wildfires, floods, or hurricanes. To qualify, farmers must apply to the USDA, prove a "qualified loss" (such as prevented planting or crop damage), and meet income thresholds based on their average adjusted gross farm income. Payments are calculated using either past insurance data or revenue from previous crop years, with limits: $125,000 for specialty crops (or $900,000 for higher-income farmers) and $250,000 for other crops. A key requirement is that farmers must purchase crop insurance for the next two years to receive a payment. The program is funded through fiscal years 2023-2028, with administrative costs capped at 1% of allocated funds.