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Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP)

ELAP provides financial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions, including blizzards and wildfires, as determined by the Secretary. ELAP assistance is provided for losses not covered by other disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, such as losses not covered by the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) and the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP).

Assistance for Feed Transportation Costs

In 2021, USDA updated ELAP policy to help cover the cost of transporting feed for livestock that rely on grazing. USDA has expanded the program to help ranchers cover above normal costs of hauling livestock to forage or other grazing acres. This includes places where:

  • Drought intensity is D2 for eight consecutive weeks as indicated by the U.S. Drought Monitor;  
  • Drought intensity is D3 or greater; or  
  • USDA has determined a shortage of local or regional feed availability. 

An online tool is now available to help ranchers document and estimate payments to cover feed transportation costs caused by drought. Download the tool. If you have questions, a demonstration video are available

The deadline to request all ELAP assistance for 2023 calendar year losses will be Jan. 30, 2024.

More information is available in the following releases:

More Information

(All documents are in PDF)