OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA will open a portal before the end of the month for farmers to apply for nearly $21 billion in aid for dealing with natural disasters over the past two years, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told senators on Tuesday.

Rollins testified before a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture to discuss plans for the FY 2026 budget, which includes roughly $4.6 billion in cuts. Senators asked about a range of funding cuts, facilities in their own states and USDA's cancellation and freezing of programs in the first three months of the Trump administration.

Also discussed was when USDA plans to open applications for roughly $20.5 billion in natural disaster aid passed by Congress in December. Rollins repeatedly told lawmakers USDA will announce applications for disaster aid, "in the coming weeks, by the end of May."

Passed quickly after Hurricane Helene hit last fall, the disaster aid package covers an array of natural disasters that hit agriculture in 2023 and 2024. Among the funds, $2 billion was set aside specifically for livestock producers. Assistance from the package could go to states in the form of block grants as well as direct compensation to farmers.

Rollins also told the subcommittee USDA has moved almost $8 billion under the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) since opening the program in late March. A USDA dashboard for the program shows $7.3 billion has been paid to more than 472,000 farmers thus far.

"From what I have seen you are following very well what we laid out in that emergency assistance," said Sen John Hoeven, R-N.D., chairman of the subcommittee.

Rollins noted creating a program for natural disasters is a little more complicated than ECAP, which had prescribed details in the legislation on how payments would be distributed. "It's a little more complicated because we don't have specifics," she said.

Hoeven noted Congress expects the disaster payments to operate similar to the Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program (WHIP) created in 2017. The Biden administration later drafted a different disaster program, the Emergency Relief Program (ERP), which sparked complaints because the payment formula leaned more heavily toward smaller producers than WHIP.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., told Rollins about farmers in his state who need those disaster payments to keep operating. He specifically cited examples from a pecan farmer and a cotton farmer. Rollins replied, "Within a matter of weeks, the portal will open on those grant applications."

FROZEN FUNDS AND STAFFING CUTS

Senators from both parties highlighted their concerns about budget cuts at USDA.

"We want to work with you to find savings, but we have got to know that we're still going to deliver that service that keeps those family businesses -- those farms and ranches -- going every single day to benefit every single American," Hoeven told Rollins.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., was more critical, saying the Trump administration has created doubts among producers and groups with frozen or canceled funding.

"What I've heard from farmers over the past 100 days of this administration is they aren't sure they can trust the federal government anymore," Shaheen said. "I've heard from farmers across our state who no longer know if they can rely on the federal government honoring a basic signed contract."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she wanted more details on funding that remains frozen. Farmers, landowners, loggers, natural resource businesses "still have no clarity on what decisions will be made," Collins said.

Rollins said USDA began sorting through $20 billion in program funding and is down now to the final $5 billion frozen program dollars.

Hoeven said it was important to ensure "frontline FSA offices or employees" remain in place to work with farmers and ranchers.

On FSA county offices, Rollins said, "It is not in our plan to close any of those offices." She added, however, USDA wants to improve technology to be more efficient online with technical assistance down the line. "But today we can't rip that rug out from underneath our farmers and ranchers and that remains a priority."

Rollins also said she signed a memorandum recently that prevented certain frontline positions at FSA, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Forest Service firefighters from taking federal buyouts.

On the 15,000 or so employees who took a deferred resignation, Rollins said that's still less than 15% of the USDA workforce. Rollins also noted USDA loses between 8,000 to 10,000 employees yearly due to attrition.

"We are very intentionally approaching this. Have we done it perfectly? No. Any kind of whole-scale change and big effort to basically realign an entire government agency is difficult and we know that," Rollins said.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, questioned the logic of the Trump administration abruptly firing thousands of probationary employees -- mainly federal employees with less than two years of service. Those firings affected rural communities, Moran said.

"It was particularly troublesome when those probationary employees were eliminated," he said. "We love the circumstances when you have a young man or woman out of college who returns home, goes to work for USDA in a county office."

Senators also raised concerns about $200 million or so in proposed cuts to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in the budget. Rollins said USDA is looking to close some older out-of-date facilities, but she said it would not affect critical research programs. Still, senators highlight ARS scientists are leaving because all of the essential support staff are being cut.

USDA REORGANIZATION COMING

As USDA looks to reorganize, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., suggested in the hearing that USDA relocate ARS to Nebraska. Fischer noted the proximity to other land grant universities and low cost of living in her sales pitch to Rollins.

The secretary said USDA is "very close" to announcing reorganization plans and she also noted lawmakers have been offering feedback about potential locations. Rollins said "We have to move. This is a customer-service oriented agency, and why then do we have so many people in Washington, D.C." Rollins said. She added, "It also would be cheaper for the taxpayer and the customer-service agent will be closer to the people that we serve. We are very in the weeds on that today and an announcement is forthcoming."

LOCAL FOOD PROGRAMS

Democrats on the subcommittee challenged Rollins for shutting down funding for the Local Food Assistance Program (LFPA), the Local Food for Schools (LFS) and cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Each program operates a little differently, but they all buy local produce, meat and other products and distribute the products to lower income people or school lunches.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said farmers made business decisions based on the expectations those programs would continue. "The decision to cancel these vital programs only hurts families trying to put food on the table and the Wisconsin farmers who produce it," Baldwin said.

Rollins countered that LFPA was a "covid-era program" that was not meant to go on forever. She also pointed out when the program was canceled, Wisconsin had $1.2 million in the bank. Rollins pointed out multiple times to senators that states had funding left over from the previous year. "Your state asked for a contract extension because they couldn't spend the money fast enough," she said.

Sen. Heinrich, D-N.M., follow up with similar complaints about cuts to LFPA and LFS, saying they were "two of the best examples of using American grown produce to produce healthier outcomes in our students. To me, that is making America healthy again."

Again, pointing out New Mexico had $1.6 million left over last year, Rollins also said USDA spends $400 million daily on nutrition programs. "I believe, sincerely, that we'll be able to check a lot of those boxes without continuing a program that was supposed to end at the end of covid and that, in fact, most states still have a lot of money left in the bank and they haven't been able to spend it."

Also see, "More Than 15,000 Employees Leaving USDA as White House Proposes More Budget Cuts," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

The full hearing video: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.