Livestock Indemnity Program

Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers a livestock disaster program to producers that have lost animals due to adverse weather such as droughts, floods, and wildfires. This program is known as the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). LIP provides benefits to eligible livestock owners or contract growers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by eligible loss conditions, including eligible adverse weather. In addition, LIP provides assistance to eligible livestock owners that must sell livestock at a reduced price because of an injury from an eligible loss condition.

 

LIP payments for owners are based on national payment rates that are 75 percent of the market value of the applicable livestock as determined by the USDA’s Secretary of Agriculture.

 

Eligible livestock include

• Beef cattle
• Dairy cattle
• Buffalo and beefalo
• Sheep
• Swine
• Goats
• Alpacas
• Llamas
• Poultry
• Emus
• Elk
• Deer Reindeer
• Horses (used as a part of the commercial operation)

 

Non-eligible livestock include

• Show animals
• Pleasure animals
• Rodeo stock
• Hunting animals
• Pets
• Animals kept for home consumption

 

To be eligible for LIP

• A livestock owner must have legally owned the livestock on the day the livestock died and/or were injured by an eligible loss condition.
• The owner’s livestock must have died as a direct result of an eligible loss condition,
• or been injured as a result of an eligible loss condition and were sold at a reduced price.

 

Livestock owners must record all pertinent information (including the number and kind) of all livestock and those adversely impacted by an eligible loss condition resulting in either death losses or injury and sales of injured livestock at reduced price.

 

To receive LIP payments livestock owners must file with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) within 60 days after the calendar year the eligible loss condition occurred.

 

For more information, visit your local FSA office.