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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds 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 a qualifying drought or fire. The deadline to apply for 2021 LFP assistance is Jan. 31, 2022. 

For the 2021 program year, 27 counties in Oklahoma have met drought severity levels that trigger LFP eligibility. More than $473.1 million has been paid, to date, to eligible livestock producers in 26 states and territories for 2021 LFP. For LFP, qualifying drought triggers are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor. Visit the FSA LFP webpage for a list of eligible counties and grazing crops. LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers and contract growers who also produce forage crops for grazing and suffered losses due to a qualifying drought or fire during the normal grazing period for the county.  Eligible livestock include alpacas, beef cattle, buffalo/bison, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, reindeer or sheep that have been or would have been grazing the eligible grazing land or pastureland during the normal grazing period. To expedite the application process, producers are encouraged to gather and submit records documenting 2021 losses. Supporting documents may include information related to grazing leases, contract grower agreements, and more. 

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

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

Additional disaster assistance information can be found 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. Due to the pandemic, some USDA Service Centers are open to limited visitors. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent. 

Originally published via newsletter from the Oklahoma Farm Service Agency