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Attention All Producers Effected by Wildfires:

Thousands of acres and countless producers have been affected by the recent wildfires in North Dakota. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds farmers and ranchers effected by the wildfires that disaster assistance programs are available to support their recovery efforts. Please remember to document losses, and the wildfire affects before starting cleanup. You can find your closest FSA office at USDA Service Center Locator. For more information visit fsa.usda.gov/disaster.

FSA administers a suite of safety-net programs to assist producers after natural disasters such as wildfire. Below is a description of some of those programs, followed by a listing of important documentation to maintain while preparing for your conversation with your local USDA Service Center:

• Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) - offers payments to eligible producers for livestock death losses in excess of normal mortality due to adverse weather such as wildfires.
  • To participate in LIP, producers will be required to provide verifiable documentation of death losses resulting from an eligible adverse weather event such as wildfire, and you must submit a notice of loss to your local FSA by the application deadline, March 1, 2025.
• Livestock Forage Program (LFP) - offers payments to grazing producers for reduced forage from eligible drought in the county, and wildfire on federally managed acreage.
  • To participate in LFP, producers must file an application with actual livestock quantities by January 30, 2025, and attach records of land control such as leases, and for federal lands the notification to remove cattle.
• Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) – offers payments to grazing producers for lost grazing, lost feed, water hauling, due to drought and adverse weather conditions such as wildfires.
  • To participate in ELAP, producers must submit a notice of loss to your local FSA office by the application deadline, January 30, 2025, and should maintain inventory and loss documentation and receipts of grazing and feed losses to include value of stored feed that was damaged be weather.
• Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) - provides emergency funding for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate land severely damaged by natural disasters, including fence losses from wildfires.
  • To participate in ECP an application for cost-share assistance must be filed, the local FSA County Committee (COC) or its representative will conduct an onsite inspection of the damaged area, and the Agency responsible for technical assistance, such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has recommended the technical requirements for the project such as replacing/repairing livestock fencing.
• Emergency Loan Program – emergency loans are available to producers with agriculture operations located in a county under a primary or contiguous Presidential or Secretarial disaster designation such as drought or wildfire. These low interest loans help producers recover from production and physical losses. Be sure to contact your local USDA Service Center.

Documentation Important for Livestock Programs at FSA

Producers should record all pertinent information regarding livestock losses due to the eligible adverse weather or loss condition, including:

• Documentation of the number, kind, type, and weight range of livestock that have died, supplemented, if possible, by photographs or video, records of ownership and records of losses
• Quantity of normal mortality losses for those losses not associated with disaster
• Rendering truck receipts by kind, type and weight - important to document prior to disposal
• Beginning inventory supported by birth recordings or purchase receipts
• Documentation from Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Department of Agricultural, Veterinarian, or other sources to substantiate eligible death losses due to an eligible loss condition
• Contract grower’s contracts and grazing land leases
• Documentation that livestock were removed from grazing pastures due to an eligible adverse weather or loss condition
• Costs of transporting livestock feed to eligible livestock, such as receipts for equipment rental fees for hay lifts and snow removed
• Feed purchase receipts if feed supplies or grazing pastures are destroyed
• Harvest records or feed purchase records, along with documented loss quantities.
• Number of gallons of water transported to livestock due to water shortages.

Thank you to all the firefighters, farmers, ranchers, and volunteers that have stepped up to help these communities! Stay safe and take care!

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