On March 18, 2025, the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (USDA-FSA) announced that it will provide $10 billion in direct payments to eligible agricultural producers of qualifying commodities. Passed under the American Relief Act of 2025, the economic relief will be delivered through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) to help eligible producers offset the effects of increased input costs and depressed commodity prices from the 2024 crop year.
ECAP will offer direct payments for 22 eligible commodities using a flat per-acre payment rate. Long grain and medium grain rice are among the eligible commodities at a rate of $76.94 per acre (Fig.1).
Fig.1 Eligible commodities and ECAP payment rates.
Note: Initial payments will be 85% of the payment rate.
To be eligible, producers must be actively engaged in farming, have an interest in input expenses for a covered commodity, have reported eligible planted and prevent plant acres to FSA for the 2024 crop year via an FSA-578, Report of Acreage form, and, if applicable, have filed a CCC-576 Notice of Loss of form for prevent plant acres for the 2024 crop year.
This could provide relief for some rice growers as the FSA’s 2024 acreage report (dated January 2, 2025) shows 417,313 acres of medium- and long-grain rice were reported as prevented acres (Fig. 2). Arkansas led with 186,695 acres, followed by California (92,429 acres), and Texas (74,030 acres) (Fig. 3). For acres reported as prevent plant, ECAP will provide economic support for 50 percent of the reported acres.
Fig.2 Rice prevented acres by type
Medium grain includes temperate japonica from California
Source: USDA-FSA crop acreage data (2024)
Fig.3 Rice (long and medium) prevented acres state
California includes temperate japonica
Other represents values from Tennessee and Illinois
The initial round of payments will be based on an 85 percent payment rate, delivering $65.40 per acre rice (0.85 × 76.94). This is to ensure that total programo payments do not exceed available funding. If funds remain after the initial payment round, FSA may distribute a second payment covering up to the remaining 15%. Growers can estimate their ECAP payment using this calculator.
The application period opened on March 19, 2025, and will remain open until August 15, 2025. Eligible producers must submit the required application forms and have other required documentation for the 2024 crop year on file with their local FSA office. Visit the ECAP information page for complete eligibility details and application process.