Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) 2026: Fence Repair, Debris Removal, and Land Restoration
Fence or farmland damaged? Before you rebuild:
- Photograph the damage now: burned or washed-out fence, debris on fields, eroded ground, damaged water facilities. Note the location and length of fence.
- Talk to FSA before permanent repairs. Ask whether ECP is open for your county and submit a request before you start. Find your local FSA office or call 1-877-508-8364.
- Emergency fixes to keep livestock in or prevent more damage are different. Keep receipts and photos and tell FSA what you did and why.
- Get a written estimate or bid for the work, and keep every receipt once work begins.
This is a free guide, not financial or legal advice. FSA decides eligibility and payment amounts. Always verify with your local FSA office. Report an error
The Short Version
ECP can help you put farmland back into production after a natural disaster: rebuilding permanent fence, clearing debris, re-leveling land, restoring conservation structures, and emergency water for livestock in a severe drought. If FSA approves your request, it can cost-share up to 75% of the allowable cost, or up to 90% for limited resource, socially disadvantaged, and beginning farmers and ranchers, up to $500,000 per disaster. ECP only opens in counties FSA approves after a specific disaster, funding is limited, and work you start before submitting a request generally isn’t cost-shared. That timing is the main thing to get right.
At a Glance
| What it can pay for | Debris removal, permanent fence restoration, grading and re-leveling, restoring conservation structures, emergency water conservation measures in severe drought. |
| Cost-share | Up to 75% of allowable cost; up to 90% for limited resource, socially disadvantaged, and beginning farmers and ranchers. |
| Limits | $500,000 per person or legal entity per disaster; no more than 50% of the land’s agricultural value. |
| Deadline | During the enrollment period FSA announces for your county. |
| Where to apply | Your FSA county office. |
| Advance payment | You can ask for up to 25% of the projected payment before you do the work; it must be spent within 60 days. |
Who and What Qualifies
You need to be an agricultural producer (owner, operator, or tenant) with an interest in the damaged land, and you must be the one paying for the work. Federal and state agencies are not eligible.
The land has to be in a county where FSA has implemented ECP for the disaster, and the damage has to be new: if left untreated it would impair the land or materially affect its productive capacity, it is unusual for the area, and it is costly enough that federal help is needed. Problems that existed before the disaster are not eligible. Land expected to be in annual agricultural production qualifies; so can a field windbreak or farm access road blocked by debris.
Some land is not eligible, including land behind a levee that wasn’t working before the disaster, corrals, barn lots and feeding areas, land in stream channels, land where poor farming practices contributed to the damage, and land devoted to trees or timber (forest land may fit the Emergency Forest Restoration Program instead).
FSA also sets a minimum qualifying cost of restoration. Small jobs may fall below it, though you can request a waiver.
Fence Repair
Restoring permanent fence is one of the practices FSA lists for ECP. ECP restores fence to a condition similar to what existed before the disaster; it is not a way to upgrade or add new fence. A few points:
- FSA figures cost-share on allowable cost, limited to what it takes to meet FSA’s practice specifications and fix the problem. If your bid is higher, the cost-share is figured on FSA’s number.
- Your own labor and equipment can count, but only for work beyond your normal operation and at less than commercial contractor rates.
- Insurance and other programs come off the top. Costs reimbursed by insurance or another program are not eligible, and you can’t receive ECP and another federal program (such as EWP) for the same expense.
- You must maintain the fence for its expected life span. If you don’t, FSA may ask for some or all of the cost-share back.
How to Apply
- Find out whether ECP is open for your county. FSA announces the sign-up after it approves ECP for a disaster. Ask your county office.
- Submit your cost-share request before starting permanent work. FSA will make an on-site inspection before approval (it can waive that when damage is so severe an inspection isn’t needed).
- Get approval, then do the work to FSA’s practice specifications. Get any permits the work requires.
- Certify completion and request payment by the payment request deadline in your agreement, with receipts and proof of the work.
Bring: photos and a description of the damage, maps or measurements (for example, feet of fence), estimates or bids, proof of your interest in the land, and payment-eligibility forms (CCC-902, CCC-941, AD-1026) if they are not already on file.
What most people get wrong
- Rebuilding first and asking later. Work started before you submit a request is generally not cost-shared. Exceptions are case by case and limited to work started no more than 60 days before ECP was approved for your county.
- Waiting until the fence is done to call. Funding is first come, first served within FSA’s priorities, and sign-ups close.
Worked Example
A hypothetical wildfire on private land burns fence that will cost $40,000 to rebuild. FSA has opened ECP in the county, and the rancher submits a request before starting.
| Scenario | Math | Possible cost-share |
|---|---|---|
| FSA’s allowable cost equals the bid | $40,000 × 75% | $30,000 |
| Beginning farmer or rancher | $40,000 × 90% | $36,000 |
| FSA’s allowable cost is lower, say $32,000 | $32,000 × 75% | $24,000 |
| Advance before the work (first scenario) | $30,000 × 25% | $7,500 |
In the first scenario the rancher carries $10,000 of the cost. The advance has to be spent within 60 days or returned. Every figure assumes the request is approved and funded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ECP pay for fence repair after a wildfire?
It can. ECP may cost-share up to 75% of the allowable cost to restore permanent fences damaged by a natural disaster, and up to 90% for limited resource, socially disadvantaged, and beginning farmers and ranchers, if FSA has opened ECP for your county and approves your request. The cost-share is figured on FSA’s allowable cost, which may be lower than your bid.
Can I start rebuilding fence before ECP approves it?
Generally FSA will not share the cost of work started before you submit an ECP request. FSA can make case-by-case exceptions when the disaster forced you to act right away to prevent further losses, the request was filed within a reasonable time, and the work began no more than 60 days before ECP was approved for your county. Any work before approval is at your own risk, so talk to FSA first.
What is the ECP deadline?
There is no single national date. FSA announces an enrollment period for each county after a disaster, and funding is limited. Apply as soon as your county’s sign-up opens.
Is there a payment limit for ECP?
Yes. ECP cost-share is limited to $500,000 per person or legal entity per natural disaster, and a payment can’t exceed 50% of what FSA determines is the agricultural value of the affected land.
Related Programs
- EQIP fencing: NRCS cost-share for new fence that is part of a conservation plan, not disaster repair.
- All disaster programs, including EWP for watershed and stream damage.
- Farm Disaster Triage: what to file first after a disaster.
Sources
- Enrollment periods: 7 CFR 701.13; on-site inspections: 7 CFR 701.14; work started before a request: 7 CFR 701.15
- Eligible costs, personal labor and equipment, insurance offsets: 7 CFR 701.23; maintenance: 7 CFR 701.31
- Eligible losses: 7 CFR 701.103; producer eligibility: 7 CFR 701.104; land eligibility: 7 CFR 701.105; minimum qualifying cost: 7 CFR 701.110; duplicate payments: 7 CFR 701.111; eligible practices: 7 CFR 701.112
- 75% and 90% cost-share and the 50% agricultural-value cap: 7 CFR 701.126; $500,000 per disaster: 7 CFR 701.127; 25% advance payment: 7 CFR 701.128
- Covered practices and first-come funding: FSA ECP program page
Regulation links go to the eCFR, current as of October 16, 2026. Checked October 21, 2026.