WASHINGTON, July 15, 2025 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that people recovering from severe storms may be eligible for food assistance through USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). Over 11,100 households in 14 counties in Arkansas are estimated to be eligible for this relief to help with grocery expenses.

Through this program, which USDA makes available through states in the aftermath of disasters, people who may not be eligible for SNAP in normal circumstances can participate if they meet specific criteria, including disaster income limits and qualifying disaster-related expenses.

“USDA is dedicated to helping Arkansas residents as they grapple with the aftermath of the severe storms and its impact,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “We are working closely with state and our local partners to provide vital nutrition assistance to impacted individuals.”

Arkansas will operate its in-person and telephonic D-SNAP applications July 14, 2025, through July 20, 2025. Eligible counties include Clark, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Hot Spring, Independence, Jackson, Lawrence, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Sharp, Stone, and White. Arkansas will share additional information about D-SNAP application dates and locations through local media.

How to Apply for D-SNAP

To be eligible for D-SNAP, a household must either live or work in an identified disaster area, have been affected by the disaster, and meet certain D-SNAP eligibility criteria. Eligible households will receive one month of benefits – equal to the maximum monthly amount for a SNAP household of their size – that they can use to purchase groceries at SNAP-authorized stores or from select retailers online to meet their temporary food needs as they settle back home following the disaster. For more information about Arkansas SNAP, visit the Arkansas Department of Human Services. For more information about this and other available aid, callers from Arkansas can dial 2-1-1.

The timing of D-SNAP varies with the unique circumstances of each disaster, but always begins after commercial channels of food distribution have been restored and families are able to purchase and prepare food at home. Before operating a D-SNAP, a state must ensure that the proper public information, staffing, and resources are in place.

Although current SNAP households in the identified areas are not eligible for D-SNAP, they may request supplemental SNAP benefits to raise their allotment to the maximum amount for their household size for one month if they don’t already receive that amount.

Other USDA Resources and Support

Staff across USDA are working with Arkansas, local government officials, and partners to provide swift support to communities, farmers, ranchers and small businesses in affected areas. USDA previously announced that the department has already issued flexibilities and waivers across its many farm service, nutrition and community support programs, and is hard at work looking for additional flexibilities to get critical resources and support to communities in need. USDA has also taken steps to expedite assistance to agricultural producers, expediting insurance payments and implementing flexibilities and waivers to speed recovery efforts.

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Washington, D.C., July 10, 2025 – In response to the catastrophic flooding across Central Texas, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins continues to direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) activation of comprehensive disaster response and recovery resources. USDA personnel across regional, state, and county offices are working to support impacted residents, agricultural producers, and communities with emergency response efforts, recovery resources and guidance, and long-term recovery assistance.

“As a native Texan, this disaster is deeply personal—and I want the people of Central Texas to know the USDA will be by their side through the totality of this response and long-term recovery. Seeing the damage and heartbreak caused by these floods is deeply painful. My heart goes out to every family who has lost a home, a livelihood, or a loved one—my family and I continue to hold each of you in our prayers,” said Secretary Rollins. “To ensure a comprehensive response and recovery, President Trump expedited federal support to this devastating disaster. At USDA we swiftly deployed a variety of food, nutrition, and agricultural support personnel, U.S. Forest Service law enforcement teams, chainsaw crews, and incident management teams to assist with debris clearance, provide emergency meals and nutrition support, and assist farmers and ranchers who have suffered losses with access to USDA’s wide range of disaster relief programs.”

USDA remains committed to a unified and timely response as Texas transitions from emergency response operations into long-term recovery including:

U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Response

The USFS is actively coordinating with state and local partners across central Texas—including the Texas A&M Forest Service and the Texas Division of Emergency Management—alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support ongoing response and recovery efforts. Trained saw crews and incident management team personnel from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi have been deployed and are prepared to assist with debris removal, hazard reduction, and road clearance. Additionally, USFS Law Enforcement officers have also been deployed to assist with ongoing search and rescue efforts.

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Response

NRCS is actively monitoring watershed structures and dams in the area while engaging with partners on the ground to ensure assistance is provided. NRCS has taken the following actions in coordination with state and local officials:

• Deployed Starlink devices to all responding NRCS and FSA offices in order to ensure NRCS engineering teams maintain connectivity and USDA maintains uninterrupted service to impacted farmers, ranchers, and communities.
• Stood up emergency rapid response teams to cover field offices that provide services and support to farmers, ranchers, and program sponsors.
• Coordinated the inspection of NRCS Watershed flood control structures to ensure structural integrity of watershed structures within the impacted area.
• Continues to hold Local Food and Agriculture Council meetings in the 21-county disaster area to assess damage and inform the federal response.
• Texas’ NRCS State Conservationist is closely coordinating recovery efforts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Texas Division of Emergency Management.
• Notified impacted stakeholders of assistance available through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP) which supports recovery efforts by funding projects to stabilize watersheds, reduce erosion, and protect infrastructure.

Nutrition Assistance

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is providing emergency nutrition support to affected households:

• On July 8, USDA approved hot food purchases using benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for households in Bandera, Edwards, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, and Real counties. The waiver is valid through Aug. 7, 2025.
• USDA has also waived the standard 10-day reporting deadline for SNAP households in 21 counties to report food lost due to flooding and power outages. This waiver is effective through Aug. 4, 2025.

Food Safety Guidance

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is helping residents reduce the risk of foodborne illness following exposure to flood conditions:

• Use only bottled water that has not come into contact with flood water.
• Discard any food in non-waterproof containers exposed to flood water.
• Wash and sanitize all cooking tools, dishes, and surfaces thoroughly.
• Discard porous items such as wooden cutting boards, baby bottle nipples, and plastic utensils.

For questions about food safety, contact the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or email MPHotline@usda.gov. For more information on emergency food safety guidance, visit FSIS's Emergencies and Food Safety webpage.

Animal Health and Safety

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is supporting livestock operations, licensed facilities, and breeders to help ensure animal safety during the disaster response. For more information on protecting livestock during disasters, visit APHIS's webpage.

Agricultural Disaster Assistance

USDA offers multiple recovery programs to support farmers and ranchers impacted by flooding:

• Crop Insurance and Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial assistance for producers who experience crop losses or planting delays due to natural disasters.
• Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) reimburses producers for livestock deaths resulting from extreme weather or flooding events.
• Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP) assists with feed and water losses and other production impacts not covered under other programs.
• Tree Assistance Program (TAP) supports orchardists and nursery growers in replacing trees, vines, or shrubs lost to disaster.
• Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) helps restore farmland by removing debris, grading land, and repairing conservation structures.
• Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) provides support to private forest landowners to rehabilitate disaster-damaged forestland.
• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) assists producers with water recovery and conservation practices following disasters.
• Farm Loans offer emergency and operating loans to replace damaged property or cover essential expenses.

Please find a full overview of USDA disaster programs and eligibility assistance on farmers.gov.

Rural Development Recovery Programs

USDA Rural Development offers financial and technical assistance to support long-term recovery in rural communities:

• Transitional housing and home repair
• Foundational infrastructure such as electric, water and waste treatment, and communications
• Emergency equipment financing
• Essential community facilities
• Telemedicine, distance learning and rural high-speed internet connectivity
• Rural business planning and recovery

For a full list of USDA disaster assistance programs, visit the Rural Development Disaster Assistance webpage.

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Omaha, NE, May 19, 2025 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today signed the first-ever waiver to amend the statutory definition of food for purchase for Nebraska’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Effective Jan. 1, 2026, taxpayers will no longer be subsidizing the purchase of soda or energy drinks in the State of Nebraska.

“Today’s waiver to remove soda and energy drinks from SNAP is the first of its kind, and it is a historic step to Make America Healthy Again. Under President Trump’s leadership, I have encouraged states to serve as the ‘laboratories of innovation.’ Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen and Governors in Iowa, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, West Virginia, and Colorado are pioneers in improving the health of our nation,” said Secretary Rollins.

“There’s absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases of soda and energy drinks. SNAP is about helping families in need get healthy food into their diets, but there’s nothing nutritious about the junk we’re removing with today’s waiver. I’m grateful to have worked with Secretary Rollins and the Trump Administration to get this effort across the finish line. It is a tremendous step toward improving the health and well-being of our state. We have to act because we can’t keep letting Nebraskans starve in the midst of plenty,” said Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen.

Prior to this waiver, SNAP recipients could buy anything except alcohol, tobacco, hot foods, and personal care products. This historic action adds soda and energy drinks to the list of products excluded from SNAP purchases in the state of Nebraska.

As part of the Make America Healthy Again agenda, this historic action seeks to reverse alarming disease trends across the country. Prediabetes now affects one in three children ages 12 to 19; 40% of school-aged children and adolescents have at least one chronic condition; and 15% of high school students drink one or more sodas daily.

At the direction of President Trump, USDA is ensuring programs work harder to encourage healthy eating and lifestyle habits. On Secretary Rollins’ first full day in office, she sent a letter to the nation’s governors, outlining her vision for the Department and inviting them to participate in a new “Laboratories of Innovation” initiative to create bold solutions to long-ignored challenges. Secretary Rollins and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote an opinion piece in USA Today outlining their plan to Make America Healthy Again, including through SNAP waivers like the one signed in Nebraska.

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Radio Remark: In the event of an emergency or disaster, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service provides assistance in collaboration with a wide range of partners. Rod Bain reports.

Participants: Rod Bain and Food and Nutrition Service Administrator James C. Miller

Radio Length: 00:02:51.415

Radio Author: RBAIN

Radio MP3 File

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WASHINGTON, May 6, 2025 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that people recovering from recent severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding may be eligible for food assistance through USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). Approximately 11,500 households in 13 counties in Kentucky are estimated to be eligible for this relief to help with grocery expenses.

Through this program, which USDA makes available through states in the aftermath of disasters, people who may not be eligible for SNAP in normal circumstances can participate if they meet specific criteria, including disaster income limits and qualifying disaster-related expenses.

“USDA is dedicated to helping individuals and families in Kentucky as they grapple with the aftermath of recent severe storms and tornadoes,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “We are expediting disaster assistance programs and working closely with state and local partners to provide support to impacted individuals as quickly as possible.”

Kentucky will operate its virtual and in-person D-SNAP application May 7, 2025, through May 14, 2025. Eligible counties include Anderson, Butler, Carroll, Christian, Clark, Franklin, Hardin, Hopkins, Jessamine, McCracken, Mercer, Owen, and Woodford. Kentucky will share additional information about D-SNAP application dates and locations through local media.

How to Apply for D-SNAP

To be eligible for D-SNAP, a household must either live or work in an identified disaster area, have been affected by the disaster, and meet certain D-SNAP eligibility criteria. Eligible households will receive one month of benefits – equal to the maximum monthly amount for a SNAP household of their size – that they can use to purchase groceries at SNAP-authorized stores or from select retailers online to meet their temporary food needs as they settle back home following the disaster. For more information about Kentucky SNAP, visit Kynect Benefits. For more information about this and other available aid, callers from Kentucky can dial 2-1-1.

The D-SNAP announcement today is the latest in a battery of USDA actions taken to help Kentucky residents cope with the recent severe storms and its aftermath, which also include:

• Approving a waiver to allow SNAP participants to buy hot foods and hot food products prepared for immediate consumption with their benefits at authorized SNAP retailers in 52 counties (Anderson, Ballard, Bourbon, Boyle, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Caldwell, Carlisle, Carroll, Clark, Christian, Crittenden, Edmonson, Estill, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Garrard, Grant, Graves, Grayson, Hardin, Hart, Henry, Hopkins, Jessamine, Larue, Livingston, Logan, Madison, Marshall, McClean, McCracken, Meade, Mercer, Montgomery, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Ohio, Owen, Powell, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Todd, Trigg, Trimble, Warren, Washington, Webster, and Woodford) through May 31, 2025.
• Approving waivers for the 10-day reporting requirement for food purchased with SNAP benefits lost due to power outages in the affected areas.

The timing of D-SNAP varies with the unique circumstances of each disaster but always begins after commercial channels of food distribution have been restored and families are able to purchase and prepare food at home. Before operating a D-SNAP, a state must ensure that the proper public information, staffing, and resources are in place.

Although current SNAP households are not eligible for D-SNAP, USDA has also approved Kentucky to automatically issue supplemental SNAP benefits to current SNAP households in the 13 approved counties to bring their allotment up to the maximum amount for their household size if they don’t already receive that amount.

Other USDA Resources and Support

Staff across USDA are working with Kentucky, local government officials, and partners to provide swift support to communities, farmers, ranchers and small businesses in affected areas. USDA previously announced that the department has already issued flexibilities and waivers across its many farm service, nutrition and community support programs, and is hard at work looking for additional flexibilities to get critical resources and support to communities in need. USDA has also taken steps to expedite assistance to agricultural producers, expediting insurance payments and implementing flexibilities and waivers to speed recovery efforts.

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WASHINGTON, Mar. 13, 2025 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that people recovering from recent severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides may be eligible for food assistance through USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). Nearly 3,000 households in four counties in West Virginia are estimated to be eligible for this relief to help with grocery expenses.

Through this program, which USDA makes available through states in the aftermath of disasters, people who may not be eligible for SNAP in normal circumstances can participate if they meet specific criteria, including disaster income limits and qualifying disaster-related expenses.

“USDA is dedicated to helping West Virginians as they grapple with the aftermath of recent storms and its impacts,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. “We are expediting disaster assistance programs and working closely with state and local partners to provide support to impacted individuals as quickly as possible.”

West Virginia will operate its in-person D-SNAP application beginning March 17, 2025, through March 21, 2025. Eligible counties include McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, and Wyoming. West Virginia will share additional information about D-SNAP application dates and locations through local media.

How to Apply for D-SNAP

To be eligible for D-SNAP, a household must either live or work in an identified disaster area, have been affected by the disaster, and meet certain D-SNAP eligibility criteria. Eligible households will receive one month of benefits – equal to the maximum monthly amount for a SNAP household of their size – that they can use to purchase groceries at SNAP-authorized stores or from select retailers online to meet their temporary food needs as they settle back home following the disaster. For more information about West Virginia SNAP, visit West Virginia’s Department of Human Services. For more information about this and other available aid, callers from West Virginia can dial 2-1-1.

The timing of D-SNAP varies with the unique circumstances of each disaster but always begins after commercial channels of food distribution have been restored and families are able to purchase and prepare food at home. Before operating a D-SNAP, a state must ensure that the proper public information, staffing, and resources are in place.

Although current SNAP households in the identified areas are not eligible for D-SNAP, they may request supplemental SNAP benefits to raise their allotment to the maximum amount for their household size for one month if they don’t already receive that amount.

Other USDA Resources and Support

Staff across USDA are working with West Virginia, local government officials, and partners to provide swift support to communities, farmers, ranchers and small businesses in affected areas. USDA previously announced that the department has already issued flexibilities and waivers across its many farm service, nutrition and community support programs, and is hard at work looking for additional flexibilities to get critical resources and support to communities in need. USDA has also taken steps to expedite assistance to agricultural producers, expediting insurance payments and implementing flexibilities and waivers to speed recovery efforts.

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