(NAFB.com) – Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins spoke at Commodity Classic this week and announced USDA’s plan to distribute the economic and disaster aid passed by Congress last year. The Ag Secretary said the agency has completed the necessary reviews and released funds for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. “We’re still reviewing other programs to make sure they are focused on making American agriculture the most competitive in the world,” she added. Rollins also announced a new economic assistance program called the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, or E-CAP. “Congress gave us 90 days to start distributing the first $10 billion in assistance, and we are on track to begin applications on or before March 20,” she told the attendees. “We are simultaneously working on the rapid implementation of the $20 billion in disaster assistance due to weather conditions that were outside of farmers’ control.”