WASHINGTON (AP) — Farmers and ranchers who suffered heavy livestock and grazing losses over the last three years due to extreme weather have been quick to take advantage of newly available disaster relief funds, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.

As of July 2, the agency has distributed more than 106,000 payments totaling $1.2 billion in relief funds in three months, the progress report said. That’s a little less than half the $2.5 billion the USDA estimated would be spent on cases from 2011 to 2014. The funds encompass several programs for disaster relief included in the farm bill, which was approved in February.