Eligible applicants include agricultural producers, timber landowners and contracted loggers that operated during 2023 or 2024, suffered a qualifying weather-related loss in either year and continue to operate. The noncompetitive first phase covers documented unmet losses; every applicant who demonstrates eligibility is expected to receive a payment.
Potential agricultural claims include eligible on-farm infrastructure damage, bare-ground practices, future economic loss and market loss. Timber claims may include standing or harvested timber losses, licensed-forester assessments, forest-stewardship plan updates and certain logger costs required to reopen damaged harvest sites and restore access.
Applicants should begin gathering ownership, lease or timber-sale records, parcel and business information, time-stamped photographs, receipts or estimates, documentation of other payments and records showing the cause and value of the loss. A competitive second phase is planned for infrastructure losses above $75,000, with awards up to $750,000; it will not duplicate losses already paid by the first phase or another source. The state expects the first application window to close December 31 and payments to go out in early 2027, but it has not stated an exact closing time.