Livestock producers will receive at least $577 million in disaster payments to offset forage losses due to severe drought or wildfires last year, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday. “Producers of grazing livestock experienced catastrophic losses of available forage as well as higher costs for supplemental feed in 2021,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in announcing the new Emergency Livestock Relief Program.
In the first phase of the new program, the USDA will issue payments to producers who suffered grazing losses in a county that experienced severe or extreme drought last year and who were approved for aid through a USDA feed assistance program. Producers who were denied grazing permits on federal land due to wildfire also are eligible for aid.
For most producers, payments will be pro-rated at 75 percent of supplemental feed costs, said the USDA. For socially disadvantaged producers, the payment factor will be 90 percent. The USDA estimated phase one payments would exceed $577 million.
The USDA said a second round of payments to livestock producers was possible. Crop producers who suffered losses from natural disasters in 2021 may be eligible for a separate aid program with two rounds of payments.