Financial Assistance Ends Monday

Apply for 2021 USDA grazing loss assistance by Jan. 31

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds Texas ranchers and livestock producers that they may be eligible for financial assistance through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) for 2021 grazing losses due to qualifying drought or fire. The deadline to apply for 2021 LFP assistance is Jan. 31, 2022.

“Ongoing, widespread drought conditions have resulted in significant financial losses for agricultural producers, causing stress across rural America,” Zach Ducheneaux, Farm Service Agency (FSA) administrator, said. “I want to emphasize that the FSA is here to help offset these economic hardships and help producers rebuild with resilience. Therefore, I want to encourage producers who suffered 2021 grazing losses to file their LFP applications as soon as possible to expedite payments. Timely filing is doubly important this year, as information gathered may be used to deliver upcoming disaster assistance.”

For the 2021 program year, 901 counties in 26 states and territories have met drought severity levels that trigger LFP eligibility. In addition, more than $473.1 million has been paid, to date, to livestock producers eligible for 2021 LFP. For LFP, with U.S. Drought Monitor triggering the qualifying drought use.

To determine if a county is eligible for LFP assistance, view the complete list of current, eligible counties in the online LFP County List.

LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers and contract growers who also grow forage crops for grazing and suffer losses due to qualifying drought or fire during the average grazing period for the county. Visit the FSA LFP webpage for the complete list of eligible grazing crops.

Eligible livestock includes alpacas, beef cattle, buffalo/bison, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, reindeer, or sheep been or would have been grazing the eligible grazing land or pastureland during the average grazing period.

Expediting the application process, producers should gather and submit records documenting 2021 losses. Supporting documents may include grazing leases, contract grower agreements, and more.

More Information 

LFP is part of a broader suite of disaster assistance available through the USDA.

The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP), which has a Jan. 31, 2022 deadline, provides eligible producers with compensation for certain feed losses not covered by LFP as assistance with transporting water to livestock and feed transportation expenses.

You can find additional disaster assistance information on farmers.gov, including the Farmers.gov Drought Webpage, Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool.

For FSA and Natural Resources Conservation Service programs, including LFP and ELAP, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center. Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email, and other digital tools. Unfortunately, some USDA Service Centers are open to limited visitors due to the pandemic. Producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent for assistance with a crop insurance claim.