Livestock Relief: Your Lifeline in the Face of Disaster

LISTEN UP, LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS! If you’ve been hit by wildfires on non-federal land or floods in 2023 and 2024, there’s a new lifeline for you. The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has just opened the application window for the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire (FW). Mark your calendars—applications are due October 31, 2025. This isn’t just another program; it’s your chance to offset the skyrocketing costs of supplemental feed that followed the devastating floods, flash storms, and wildfires that tore through the country.

Authorized under the American Relief Act of 2025, the FW program is deploying a whopping $940 million. That’s the remaining balance of Congress’s $2 billion livestock disaster assistance directive. While no program can fully cover losses tied to disasters of this magnitude, ELRP-FW provides critical support for ranchers and farmers struggling with damaged grazing land, higher transportation costs, and reduced livestock productivity.

STORMS, FIRES, AND ECONOMIC FALLOUT

The severe floods and wildfires of 2023 and 2024 created major obstacles for livestock growers across the country. These disasters upended forage conditions, damaged infrastructure, and sharply raised feed costs, leaving ranchers with mounting expenses at a time of already pressured margins.

In both years, wildfire activity scorched nearly 11.5 million acres nationwide. The most severe event came in March 2024, when five fires tore through the Texas Panhandle. Over 1.1 million acres were burned, hundreds of structures and fences destroyed, and more than 7,000 head of cattle killed. At the same time, unprecedented floods swept across much of the country. In 2023, California was hit hard by atmospheric rivers, while in 2024 hurricanes Helene and Milton inundated the Southeast. Persistent rains also flooded the Northeast and Midwest, washing out roads, cutting off feed supplies, and damaging cropland.

For livestock producers, the economic consequences were swift and severe. Transportation costs soared as washed-out infrastructure delayed feed shipments. Replacement feed was more expensive and harder to find, with crop failures adding to shortages. Dairy and beef operations alike saw reduced performance: lower milk yields, lighter calf weaning weights, and ration imbalances caused by sudden shifts in feed quality. These cascading effects underscore why Congress carved out specific funding for disasters that fall outside the reach of the Livestock Forage Program (LFP).

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS

ELRP-FW provides compensation for increased supplemental feed costs caused by qualifying floods or wildfires occurring on non-federally managed land. Unlike the drought portion of ELRP, which used existing LFP records to automatically deliver payments, this program requires farmers to apply directly using form FSA-970.

Payments are based on USDA’s standard monthly feed cost estimates per animal unit. For flood-related losses, assistance covers 60% of three months of feed costs. For wildfires on non-federal land, assistance equals 60% of one month of feed costs. These rates reflect the longer recovery needed for flood-damaged land compared to land burned by fire.



ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility is broad but clearly defined. To be eligible, farmers must have owned, leased, purchased, or been under contract to raise eligible livestock on the start date of the qualifying disaster. They must also demonstrate that the disaster event led to increased supplemental feed costs.

Covered livestock include beef and dairy cattle, beefalo, buffalo, bison, sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas, deer, reindeer, elk, equine, ostriches, and emus. Livestock in commercial feedlots, auction facilities, or operations that buy and resell animals without sharing in the production risk are not eligible.

FSA has already confirmed qualifying floods and wildfires in many counties using disaster declarations, weather data, and economic reports. In these counties, growers will not need to supply event documentation. For counties not pre-approved, farmers can still qualify by providing acceptable evidence such as photos, insurance documents, or local/state emergency declarations.

DON’T MISS OUT!

This is your chance to get the relief you need to keep your operations running. Don’t let the disasters of 2023 and 2024 bring you down. Apply for the ELRP-FW program today and get the support you deserve. The application window closes on October 31, 2025, so don’t wait—act now!