USDA Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP)

Mar 24, 2025

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating up to $10 billion directly to agricultural producers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) for the 2024 crop year. This funding aims to support growers facing multiple years of low crop prices combined with high input costs.

The economic relief payment, approved under the American Relief Act, is determined by the number of planted and prevented-planted crop acres in 2024 for eligible commodities. Corn will receive a payment rate of $42.91 per acre, while wheat will be paid at a rate of $30.69 per acre. A complete list of eligible commodities is available here.

Growers can use the payment calculator to estimate their payment amount for eligible commodities and acreage. Payments will be distributed as applications are approved, with initial payments calculated at 85% to ensure the total program payments stay within available funding. If there are remaining funds, the FSA may issue a second payment.

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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