Courtesy of NAA:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers the deadline to apply for financial assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) is Jan. 30, 2025, for losses due to specific adverse conditions that occurred in 2024.

ELAP provides emergency relief to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish to assist with losses due to disease, adverse weather, or other conditions, such as wildfires, that are not covered by other FSA disaster assistance programs.

ELAP Eligible Losses
ELAP provides recovery assistance for:

• farm-raised fish feed and death losses due to eligible disease, adverse weather and other qualifying conditions.  The term “fish” includes all farmed aquatic animals except alligator and turtles. 

Other ELAP Loss Conditions and Payments

Eligible adverse weather or loss conditions under ELAP include, but are not limited to, blizzards, drought, winter storms, excessive wind, floods, hail (grazing loss only), hurricane, lightning, tidal surge and tornado. Not all eligible loss conditions are applicable to all categories of ELAP assistance, and producers are encouraged to visit with their county FSA office for more information. Payments are based on a percentage of the fair market value of the livestock, honeybees, or fish lost, or the cost of feed and water shortages.

Producers are responsible for providing verifiable documentation of losses and the conditions causing the loss. This may include veterinary records, feed purchase receipts, and other supporting documents.

For more ELAP information, visit ELAP for Farm-raised Fish.

Producers interested in applying for ELAP assistance for calendar year 2024 should contact FSA at their nearest USDA Service Center by the Jan. 30, 2025, deadline.

To find a Service Center visit farmers.gov/service-locator.