U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said a portal will open before the end of May so farmers can apply for nearly $21 billion in natural disaster aid. This is in response to natural disasters that occurred over the past two years.

In December, Congress passed a $20.5 billion natural disaster relief package that covers an array of natural disasters that occurred in 2023 and 2024. Two billion of these funds were specifically set aside for livestock producers. The assistance from the package can either go to the states in the form of block grants or as direct compensation to farmers.

Rollins said that creating a program for natural disasters is more challenging than the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP). The details of that program’s payments were determined by legislative prescription. This resulted in $7.3 billion being paid to 472,000 farmers so far. The natural disaster aid lacks the specifics for payment.

Lawmakers expect disaster payments to work similarly to the 2017 Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program (WHIP).

Learn more about the natural disaster aid portal that will open before the end of May here.