Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced Thursday the release of congressionally mandated Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) payments to cover grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire events in 2023 and/or 2024.
The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is leveraging existing Livestock Forage Disaster Program (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, and they do not have to contact USDA to receive payments.
“The Department of Agriculture is stepping up to support livestock producers by expediting disaster payments when drought and wildfires strike. Under President Trump’s leadership, USDA has the backs of ranchers, and that’s why we are delivering much-needed emergency relief ahead of schedule,” Rollins says.
.@POTUS and I are committed to expediting disaster assistance for America’s agricultural producers impacted by natural disasters.
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 29, 2025
I am delivering on my commitment to swiftly release disaster aid ahead of schedule.
We will continue to put America’s Farmers and Ranchers FIRST! https://t.co/ywebJr4AqU
The American Relief Act, 2025, provided funds for emergency relief payments. This program is the first of two programs authorized to assist with eligible losses suffered by livestock producers. FSA will announce additional ELRP assistance for other losses authorized by the act, including flooding, later this summer. The agency expects demand for this first program to be great, so the ELRP payments will be factored at 35%. If additional funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.
Supplemental Disaster Assistance Timeline
USDA says it is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act, 2025. On May 7, it launched its 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant rollout timeline can be tracked. The page is updated regularly and accessible through fsa.usda.gov.
The act also authorized $10 billion in economic loss assistance to producers of covered commodities based on 2024 planted and prevented planted acres. To date, USDA says it has delivered more than $7.7 billion to producers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP). The ECAP deadline is Aug. 15, 2025. More information is available from local FSA county offices.
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