Bill > S4661

This bill, titled the "Ensuring Disaster Recovery and Resilience for Specialty Crops Act," aims to establish a permanent framework for providing direct disaster assistance to producers of specialty crops, which are defined as crops with higher value and input costs compared to other crops, and include diverse legal structures. The assistance will be triggered by adverse events, including economic crises or market disruptions, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. Payments will be calculated based on a producer's past sales of specialty crops and a payment factor determined by the Secretary to address losses, subject to the availability of funds. The bill also includes limitations on the total amount of payments a person or legal entity can receive, generally aligning with existing payment limitations for other agricultural programs, but with an exception for entities where at least 75 percent of their average gross income comes from farming, ranching, or silviculture activities, for whom the Secretary will set a higher payment limit, not less than $500,000. Existing rules regarding notification of interests, eligibility, and denials from the Food Security Act of 1985 will also apply to specialty crop producers under this new framework.