Nebraska FSA State Office News Bulletin - March 26, 2026
USDA is here to help you recover from the devastating wildfires that have impacted your agricultural operations and livelihood. If you were impacted by the Morrill, Cottonwood, Road 203 or Anderson Bridge wildfires please safely document all losses and damages to the best of your ability and contact your FSA county office to report those losses. The articles below provide an overview of wildfire recovery assistance. We will provide additional updates and encourage you to contact your local FSA office for assistance.
Nebraska USDA Farm Service Agency is reminding producers impacted by recent wildfires of disaster assistance and low-interest loan programs to assist you in your recovery efforts following wildfires.
Some key programs and loans include:
For more information on these and other programs, or additional programs that may become available, contact your local USDA Service Center or visit farmers.gov or fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
A fact sheet that outlines available programs through FSA, as well as the Natural Resources Conservation Service and others can be found here.
Agricultural operations in Nebraska were significantly impacted by recent wildfires. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has technical and financial assistance available to help farmers and livestock producers recover from adverse natural disaster events. Impacted producers should contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is available to provide technical assistance during the recovery process through planning and implementation of conservation practices on farms, ranches and working forests impacted by natural disasters. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can also provide financial assistance to help producers implement conservation practices on land impacted by natural disasters. A special emergency sign-up is open for EQIP for those impacted by the wildfires across the state of Nebraska beginning March 25, 2026. The core conservation practices offered include: Grazing Management, Cover Crops, Fencing, Mulching, Annual Forages for Grazing Systems, and Emergency Animal Mortality Management. A ranking threshold of 10 or greater must be met for eligible applicants.
Impacted producers are encouraged to contact their local USDA Service Center for program applications and practice requirements.
If you’ve suffered livestock feed or grazing losses due to recent wildfires, you could be eligible for assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).
ELAP provides financial assistance for eligible livestock owners for eligible losses such as: grazing loss, purchased or produced feed loss, additional cost of purchasing feed above normal quantities and costs associated with transporting feed/forage and water to livestock or livestock to feed/forage.
You must submit a notice of loss and application for assistance by the deadline for 2026 impacts, which is March 1, 2027.
Documentation is important for this program and can include:
- Documentation that livestock were removed from grazing pastures due to an eligible adverse weather or loss condition;
- Receipts for costs of transporting livestock feed or water to eligible livestock or livestock to new feed sources;
- Feed purchase receipts if feed supplies or grazing pastures are destroyed;
- Number of gallons of water transported to livestock due to water shortage.
For more information regarding ELAP, contact your county FSA office or visit fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides assistance for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather (including wildfires), disease and attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law. In addition, LIP provides assistance when a livestock owner must sell livestock at a reduced price because of an injury from an eligible loss condition, including wildfire.
For livestock losses, producers must file a notice of loss and application for assistance by the deadline for 2026 impacts, which is March 1, 2027.
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 losses;
- 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 Natural Resources, or other sources to substantiate eligible death losses due to an eligible loss condition.
More details about documentation necessary for LIP can be found here.
For more information about LIP, contact your county FSA office or visit fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
Producers impacted by wildfire can now request haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres in Nebraska and other states.
To increase access to forage for wildfire-impacted producers, FSA recently authorized emergency use of CRP acres, authorizing all counties in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming to donate grazing rights or haying authority to livestock producers affected by the wildfires.
Emergency haying and grazing of CRP is available until the beginning of the primary nesting season. The primary nesting season in Nebraska is May 1 through July 15, but primary nesting season dates vary by state and can be viewed on this map.
Emergency grazing may continue during the primary nesting season with a 50% reduction in the stocking rate, provided the county where the CRP is located is eligible for the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP).
Producers can use the CRP acreage under the emergency grazing provisions for their livestock or may grant another livestock producer use of the CRP acreage. CRP contract holders using this emergency provision for their own livestock or to donate emergency haying or grazing rights to producers in need of forage access can still receive their full rental payment for the land.
Producers interested in emergency haying or grazing of CRP acres must notify and be approved by their FSA county office before starting any activities. This includes producers accessing CRP acres held by someone else. To maintain contract compliance, CRP landowners must have their conservation plan modified by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Livestock Forage Disaster Program Provisions
If the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) triggers in a county for 2026 grazing losses due to drought, the provisions for CRP emergency haying and grazing change. There may be restrictions on grazing carrying capacity and which CRP practices can be hayed.
Contact your county FSA office to learn more about CRP emergency haying and grazing provisions.
Agricultural producers in several Nebraska counties who lost property due to recent natural disasters are eligible for physical loss loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers these loans for losses caused by wildfires that occurred beginning on March 12 and continuing.
FSA is offering these low-interest emergency loans to producers with a qualifying loss. Approval is limited to applicants who suffered severe physical losses only, including the loss of buildings and livestock. The deadline for producers in designated primary and contiguous counties to apply for loans for physical losses is November 23, 2026.
Nebraska counties included in this notification are: Primary Counties - Arthur, Blaine, Cherry, Dawson, Garden, Keith, Lincoln, Morrill and Thomas. Contiguous Counties - Banner, Box Butte, Brown, Buffalo, Cheyenne, Custer, Deuel, Frontier, Gosper, Grant, Hayes, Hooker, Keya Paha, Logan, Loup, McPherson, Perkins, Phelps, Scotts Bluff and Sheridan.
Physical loss loans can help producers repair or replace damaged or destroyed physical property essential to the success of the agricultural operation, including livestock losses. Examples of property commonly affected include essential farm buildings, fixtures to real estate, equipment, livestock, perennial crops, fruit and nut bearing trees, and harvested or stored crops and hay.
Please contact FSA for more information on loan eligibility and the application process. FSA office information is available at farmers.gov/service-center-locator. Additional FSA disaster assistance program information is available at fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
USDA Wildfire Recovery Resources:
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