USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce said the department is raising payments to farmers under the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, pressing ahead on long-awaited aid for specialty crop growers, and accelerating an IT overhaul he says will fundamentally change how producers interact with USDA.
Speaking Friday on Agriculture of America, Fordyce confirmed that USDA is topping up SDRP payments by an additional 35 percent, bringing the share producers will receive to 70 percent of what they were originally calculated to be eligible for.
“After some analysis, after actually getting through a big chunk of that, we felt confident in the ability with the dollars available in the program,” Fordyce said. “We felt confident enough that we could top it up 35 percent.”
The Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, which USDA launched last year, was designed to cover losses on row crops as well as trees, vines and bushes from disaster events in 2023 and 2024. The agency initially factored payments at 35 percent because the amount of eligible producers was uncertain, meaning a producer eligible for $100 received $35. With more claims now processed, Fordyce said USDA has the data and the dollars to push payments higher.
“I got a lot of messages from folks really around the country that were super appreciative,” he said, citing the droughts and heavy-rainfall events that battered growers in 2023 and 2024.
Additionally, USDA is extending the program deadline to give producers and FSA more time to address any program application changes that could impact payments. The original April 30 deadline has been extended to Aug. 12, 2026, for SDRP Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Specialty Crop Assistance Moves Closer to Rollout
Fordyce also offered an update on aid for specialty crop producers, which is being modeled closely on the Farmer Bridge Assistance program that delivered payments to commodity producers earlier this year. Like FBA, the specialty crop program will rely on acreage reports already on file with USDA. The agency reopened the reporting window so growers in regions that don’t historically file annual reports could come into compliance.
That window was extended an additional four weeks at the request of Congress and industry groups, with a final deadline of April 24. USDA is now compiling the data to determine the eligible acres and crops.
“This is a much bigger lift than FBA because of the number of crops that are in it,” Fordyce said.
Once acreage figures are finalized, USDA will assign per-acre payment rates by crop, finalize program regulations, and deploy software to administer payments. Fordyce said an announcement on rates is coming “soon,” though he did not commit to a specific date. As with FBA, producer-facing forms are expected to be prefilled — leaving growers, in his words, with little more to do than sign and return them.
A Push to Modernize USDA’s Aging Systems
Fordyce devoted a substantial portion of the conversation to USDA’s “One Farmer, One File” initiative — an effort to replace dozens of legacy systems across the Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service with a single, modern data platform. He acknowledged that some of the existing systems are 20 to 30 years old and don’t communicate with one another.
“None of the systems talk to one another,” Fordyce said. “Some of them are literally software programs that we are the only ones that use (them).”
Asked about data security concerns surrounding USDA’s choice of Palantir as a technology partner, Fordyce argued that consolidating onto one platform would actually reduce risk relative to maintaining roughly 60 separate, antiquated systems. He pointed to the speed gains the new platform should deliver — acreage reports talking to FSA, FSA talking to RMA on crop insurance, and improved tools for NRCS conservation work — calling the change “transformative.”
Fordyce framed the project as more than an IT upgrade. Modernization, he said, is paired with policy reviews and a hard look at the paperwork producers are required to file. While Congress mandates many of those requirements — adjusted gross income tests, conservation plan compliance and the like — Fordyce questioned whether farmers should have to submit the same information multiple times across agencies.
“Can we condense that? Can we do something and streamline the effort, not only for the farmer and the rancher, but also for the… tens of thousands of folks that work on behalf of agriculture in the county offices,” he said.
Fordyce indicated the modernization push will be a recurring topic in the months ahead as USDA continues to roll out the platform across mission areas.
The interview with USDA Undersecretary Richard Fordyce aired on the Friday, May 1st, 2026 episode of Agriculture of America. Watch the interview below or listen here: http://sites.libsyn.com/541047/aoa-friday-5-1-2026
USDA Boosts SDRP Payments, Eyes Specialty Crop Rollout and Records Modernization
USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce said the department is raising payments to farmers under the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, pressing ahead on long-awaited aid for specialty crop growers, and accelerating an IT overhaul he says will fundamentally change how producers interact with USDA.
Speaking Friday on Agriculture of America, Fordyce confirmed that USDA is topping up SDRP payments by an additional 35 percent, bringing the share producers will receive to 70 percent of what they were originally calculated to be eligible for.
“After some analysis, after actually getting through a big chunk of that, we felt confident in the ability with the dollars available in the program,” Fordyce said. “We felt confident enough that we could top it up 35 percent.”
The Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, which USDA launched last year, was designed to cover losses on row crops as well as trees, vines and bushes from disaster events in 2023 and 2024. The agency initially factored payments at 35 percent because the amount of eligible producers was uncertain, meaning a producer eligible for $100 received $35. With more claims now processed, Fordyce said USDA has the data and the dollars to push payments higher.
“I got a lot of messages from folks really around the country that were super appreciative,” he said, citing the droughts and heavy-rainfall events that battered growers in 2023 and 2024.
Additionally, USDA is extending the program deadline to give producers and FSA more time to address any program application changes that could impact payments. The original April 30 deadline has been extended to Aug. 12, 2026, for SDRP Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Specialty Crop Assistance Moves Closer to Rollout
Fordyce also offered an update on aid for specialty crop producers, which is being modeled closely on the Farmer Bridge Assistance program that delivered payments to commodity producers earlier this year. Like FBA, the specialty crop program will rely on acreage reports already on file with USDA. The agency reopened the reporting window so growers in regions that don’t historically file annual reports could come into compliance.
That window was extended an additional four weeks at the request of Congress and industry groups, with a final deadline of April 24. USDA is now compiling the data to determine the eligible acres and crops.
“This is a much bigger lift than FBA because of the number of crops that are in it,” Fordyce said.
Once acreage figures are finalized, USDA will assign per-acre payment rates by crop, finalize program regulations, and deploy software to administer payments. Fordyce said an announcement on rates is coming “soon,” though he did not commit to a specific date. As with FBA, producer-facing forms are expected to be prefilled — leaving growers, in his words, with little more to do than sign and return them.
A Push to Modernize USDA’s Aging Systems
Fordyce devoted a substantial portion of the conversation to USDA’s “One Farmer, One File” initiative — an effort to replace dozens of legacy systems across the Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service with a single, modern data platform. He acknowledged that some of the existing systems are 20 to 30 years old and don’t communicate with one another.
“None of the systems talk to one another,” Fordyce said. “Some of them are literally software programs that we are the only ones that use (them).”
Asked about data security concerns surrounding USDA’s choice of Palantir as a technology partner, Fordyce argued that consolidating onto one platform would actually reduce risk relative to maintaining roughly 60 separate, antiquated systems. He pointed to the speed gains the new platform should deliver — acreage reports talking to FSA, FSA talking to RMA on crop insurance, and improved tools for NRCS conservation work — calling the change “transformative.”
Fordyce framed the project as more than an IT upgrade. Modernization, he said, is paired with policy reviews and a hard look at the paperwork producers are required to file. While Congress mandates many of those requirements — adjusted gross income tests, conservation plan compliance and the like — Fordyce questioned whether farmers should have to submit the same information multiple times across agencies.
“Can we condense that? Can we do something and streamline the effort, not only for the farmer and the rancher, but also for the… tens of thousands of folks that work on behalf of agriculture in the county offices,” he said.
Fordyce indicated the modernization push will be a recurring topic in the months ahead as USDA continues to roll out the platform across mission areas.
The interview with USDA Undersecretary Richard Fordyce aired on the Friday, May 1st, 2026 episode of Agriculture of America. Watch the interview below or listen here: http://sites.libsyn.com/541047/aoa-friday-5-1-2026
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