Don't Write That Check Yet — Some ERP 2022 Overpayments Can Be Kept
But there is a deadline
If you got a letter from FSA saying you owe back part of your Emergency Relief Program (ERP) 2022 payment, hold off on writing the check. FSA released a notice in the August 14, 2026 Federal Register that lets a good number of these producers keep the money instead of repaying it.
Here is how we got here and what you need to do about it.
A Yes-or-No Question That Cost Real Money
ERP 2022 covered 2022 crop losses from drought, floods, freeze, excessive heat, wildfire, and the rest of the qualifying disasters. FSA ran it in two tracks. Track 1 was the streamlined version for producers who already had a crop insurance indemnity or NAP payment. Track 2 was the revenue-based approach, filed on Form FSA-524.
Item 16 on that Track 2 application asked one simple question: Were all of your eligible crops insured or covered by NAP?
Answer “yes” and FSA used a 90% payment factor.
Answer “no” and FSA used a 70% payment factor.
Twenty percentage points is not small change. On a $300,000 revenue loss, that spread is $60,000.
A lot of producers answered “yes” without thinking hard about the odds and ends. The corn and beans were insured. But there was also 40 acres of hay, or a patch of tomatoes, or some specialty crop with no insurance and no NAP coverage. The technically correct answer was “no.” FSA has been going back, recalculating those payments at 70%, and sending out overpayment notices.
