USDA has technical and financial assistance available to help producers recover from recent wildfires and ongoing severe drought. Those impacted should contact their local Farm Service Agency or Natural Resources Conservation Service to learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, livestock losses and damages.
Producers who experience livestock deaths or sell injured livestock at reduced prices as a result of wildfires may be eligible for the Livestock Indemnity Program. Meanwhile, for both wildfire and drought recovery, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) provides eligible producers assistance for feed losses as well as water hauling and feed transportation and expenses. For ELAP, producers will need to file a notice of loss within 30 days. An online tool is available here to help ranchers document and estimate payments to cover feed transportation costs caused by wildfire and drought.
The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners and forest stewards with financial and technical assistance to restore fencing, damaged farmland or forests. In addition, ECP supports emergency conservation measures in periods of severe drought. NRCS is available to provide technical assistance in the recovery process by assisting producers in planning and implementing conservation practices on farms, ranches and working forests impacted by natural disasters.
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