The American Relief Act, 2025, provides for $2 billion in emergency relief payments to livestock producers suffering losses due to drought, wildfires, or flooding in calendar years 2023 and 2024.
Drought and Wildfire in 2023 and/or 2024
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is issuing approximately $1 billion in emergency relief payments to:
- Ranchers who have approved applications through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) for grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire in 2023 and /or 2024.
- Livestock producers can receive payment for one or both years.
Expedited Relief
USDA is leveraging existing LFP data to streamline payment calculations and expedite relief. Emergency relief payments are automatically issued for producers who have an approved LFP application on file for 2023 and/or 2024.
- LFP provides up to 60% of the estimated replacement feed cost when an eligible drought adversely impacts grazing lands or
- 50% of the monthly feed cost for the number of days the producer is prohibited from grazing federally managed rangeland because of a qualifying wildfire.
Who Is Eligible
To be eligible for an ELRP payment, livestock producers must:
- Have suffered grazing losses in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks or a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity during the normal grazing periods established in 2023, 2024 or both calendar years, and
- Have applied and been approved for LFP.
- Additionally, producers whose permitted grazing on federally managed lands was reduced due to wildfire are also eligible for ELRP, if they applied and were approved for LFP in 2023, 2024 or both calendar years.
Required Forms
To streamline and simplify the delivery of ELRP benefits, producers are not required to submit an application for payment; however, they must have the following forms on file with FSA:
- CCC-853, Livestock Forage Disaster Program Application
- Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet
- Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual or legal entity
- Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities (if applicable)
- Form FSA-510, Request for an Exception to the $125,000 Payment Limitation for Certain Programs (if applicable). This form is required to be on file for both 2023 and 2024 to be eligible for the payment limitation exception.
- SF-3881, Direct Deposit
- AD-1026, Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification
Most producers, especially those who have previously participated in FSA programs, likely have these forms on file. However, those who are uncertain and want to confirm the status of their forms, can contact their local FSA county office.
Payment Calculation
To expedite payments to eligible livestock producers, determine eligibility, and calculate an ELRP payment, FSA will:
- Use livestock inventories and drought-affected forage acreage or restricted animal units and grazing days due to wildfire already reported by the producer when they submitted the CCC-853, Livestock Forage Disaster Program Application form for 2023, 2024 or both calendar years.
ELRP payments will be:
- Equal to the eligible livestock producer’s gross LFP calculated payment for the calendar year multiplied by an ELRP 2023 or 2024 payment factor to determine the total gross ELRP payments for 2023 and/or 2024.
Payment Factor
- The initial payment factor for 2023 and 2024 ELRP payments is 35%.
If additional funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.
ELRP Flood Loss Assistance
FSA will announce additional ELRP assistance for other losses authorized by the Act, including flooding, later this summer.
- July 23, 2025: The target date to send final rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- August 12, 2025: The target date for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance
- August 18, 2025: The target date for sign-up to begin