ELAP 2026: Help With Water Hauling, Feed Hauling, and Other Livestock Losses

Hauling water or feed right now? Start your records today.

Log every load: the date, gallons of water or tons of feed, where you hauled from and to, and the miles. ELAP records must show the dates and the total gallons or miles.
Keep receipts that show a per-mile rate if someone else hauls for you. Handwritten receipts need truck logs or other records behind them.
Write down what normal looks like: where your water normally comes from and how far you normally haul feed, so FSA can see what is above normal.
File a notice of loss with FSA. Find your local FSA office or call the FSA line at 1-877-508-8364. The final date for 2026 losses is March 1, 2027.

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

ELAP is the FSA program for livestock losses that LIP and LFP don’t cover. For ranchers, the big ones are the extra cost of hauling water when a qualifying drought dries up normal water sources, the extra cost of trucking feed to cattle or cattle to feed beyond your normal distance, and feed or grazing lost to a blizzard, flood, or wildfire on non-federal land. For 2026, FSA figures water hauling at $0.11 per gallon and trucking at $3.75 per mile per truckload, then pays a national percentage of 60% to 80% (90% for beginning, veteran, limited resource, and socially disadvantaged producers). ELAP does not pay for the feed or the water itself in a drought. The notice of loss and application are due March 1 after the year of the loss.

At a Glance

What it can pay for	Above-normal costs to haul water, feed, or livestock; feed and grazing lost to non-drought adverse weather; cattle tick fever gathering; honeybee and farm-raised fish losses; H5N1 milk losses.
Payment rate	National rate of 60% to 80% of the calculated loss set by FSA; 90% for beginning, veteran, limited resource, and socially disadvantaged producers.
2026 rates	Water: $0.11 per gallon. Feed or livestock trucking: $3.75 per mile per truckload. Grazing and feed losses: $1.1885 per animal unit per day.
Deadline	Notice of loss and application by March 1, 2027 for 2026 losses. A timely acreage report (FSA-578) is also required.
Where to file	Your FSA county office.
Payment limit	No annual dollar limit. The $900,000 AGI limit applies, with a waiver for producers with at least 75% farm income.

Water Hauling

ELAP can help with the cost of transporting water to eligible livestock during eligible adverse weather, an eligible loss condition, or an eligible drought. Equipment rental, labor, and contract hauling count toward the cost. The water itself does not.

Who may qualify. All of these have to be true:

The livestock would normally be grazing eligible grazing land in the county where the drought or event happened.
That land had adequate livestock water systems before the drought or event.
You don’t normally have to haul water to those livestock.
You owned, cash-leased, or were the contract grower of the livestock for at least 60 days before the event began.

The drought test. For ELAP, an eligible drought means any area of the county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as D2 for at least 8 consecutive weeks, or D3 or D4 at any time, and for water hauling the drought must directly affect water availability during the normal grazing period (for example, low snowpack that feeds springs and streams). Check your county on the Drought Dashboard and confirm with FSA.

How the payment is figured. FSA takes the lesser of (1) the gallons you actually hauled × $0.11, or (2) a 150-day cap based on your animal units, FSA’s daily water requirement per animal unit, and $0.11, then multiplies by the national payment rate. FSA can approve a higher per-gallon price for a state or region if the state committee documents higher hauling costs.

Feed and Livestock Transportation

In a qualifying drought or other eligible event, ELAP can help with the extra cost of trucking feed to your livestock, or your livestock to feed, beyond your normal distance. It also covers treating transported feed to prevent the spread of invasive pests. It does not pay for the feed.

The first 25 miles of extra distance per truckload don’t count, and no more than 1,000 miles per truckload are eligible in a program year.
A truckload is a single trip in a highway vehicle you own, or that you pay per loaded mile, from the pickup point to your first delivery point. The mileage rate has to appear on verifiable records.
Parcel and distribution-center deliveries (UPS, FedEx, the Postal Service, and similar carriers) are not eligible.
The feed you haul is capped at what your livestock need for the rest of the year: FSA converts your herd to animal units and allows 24 pounds of corn equivalent or 39 pounds of hay per animal unit per day, from the start of the drought through December 31.
Feed bought to resell, for someone else’s livestock, or for ineligible livestock doesn’t count.

Other Livestock Losses ELAP Can Cover

Loss	What ELAP may cover	Note
Feed lost to a blizzard, eligible winter storm, flood, hurricane, tornado, or wildfire on non-federal land	Your actual cost of purchased or harvested feed that was destroyed	Feed had to be in the county on the day the event began.
Extra feed purchased during those events	Feed above normal quantities until more feed is available, up to 150 days	Not available for drought.
Grazing lost to non-drought weather	Value of grazing days lost, up to 150 days (180 days for wildfire on non-federal land)	If you claim both extra feed and grazing for the same period, FSA pays the larger of the two, not both.
Gathering cattle to inspect or treat for cattle tick fever	A per-head gathering cost set by FSA	APHIS records must show the head count and treatments.
Honeybees	Colony, hive, and feed losses	2026 values: $130 per colony and $270 per hive; normal colony mortality is 15%.
Farm-raised fish	Death and feed losses; bird depredation at $600 per eligible acre × 85% of acres	Bird depredation needs an active U.S. Fish and Wildlife depredation permit.

Eligible livestock for the hauling, feed, and grazing losses are grazing animals kept for commercial use: beef and dairy cattle, bison, beefalo, water buffalo, sheep, goats, equine, deer, elk, reindeer, alpacas, llamas, emus, and ostriches. Livestock in a feedlot, unweaned cattle that weighed less than 500 pounds when the event began, poultry, and swine are not eligible for these losses.

What to Bring and Where to File

Notice of loss and application for payment (the Emergency Loss Assistance for Livestock application) at your FSA county office by March 1 after the year of the loss.
Your acreage report (FSA-578), filed on time for the year.
Water hauling: receipts, invoices, and logs showing the dates water was hauled and the total gallons.
Feed or livestock trucking: commercial receipts or invoices with the per-mile rate, truck logs, and the dates, miles, and loads. Cash payments need a record showing both parties.
Feed losses: feed receipts, invoices, weight or scale tickets, and harvest records.
A grower contract if you are a contract grower, and payment-eligibility forms (CCC-902, CCC-941, AD-1026) if they are not on file.

If FSA asks for more information, you have until the later of March 1 or 60 days after the request.

What most people get wrong

Not filing. Extra hauling can cost more than a few death losses, and ELAP is the program built for it.
Records without dates, gallons, or miles. A receipt for a lump sum is hard for FSA to use. Write the date and the count on every load.
Expecting the payment to match the receipts. The payment is figured from FSA’s per-gallon and per-mile rates times the national percentage.

Worked Example

A hypothetical ranch in a county that reached D3 during its normal grazing period has springs that went dry. Over the summer it hauls 180,000 gallons of water to cows on pasture, and it trucks 12 loads of hay 260 miles from the seller when it normally hauls hay 20 miles. The math below uses 60%, the lowest national rate FSA can set; ask FSA for the 2026 national rate.

Loss	Math	Possible payment
Water hauling	180,000 gal × $0.11 = $19,800.00; × 60%	$11,880.00
Hay trucking	(260 − 20 − 25) = 215 eligible miles × 12 loads = 2,580 miles × $3.75 = $9,675.00; × 60%	$5,805.00
Total		$17,685.00

At the 90% rate for a beginning or veteran producer, the water hauling line alone would be $19,800.00 × 90% = $17,820.00. The water payment is also capped by FSA’s 150-day water requirement for the herd, and the hay loads by the herd’s feed needs for the rest of the year. The hay itself is not eligible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does ELAP pay for hauling water in a drought?

It can. ELAP may pay part of the cost of transporting water to eligible livestock when a qualifying drought cuts off water sources the livestock normally use. The livestock must normally graze eligible land in the county, you must have had adequate water systems before the drought, and you must not normally haul water. FSA uses $0.11 per gallon for 2026 and pays a national percentage of the result; the cost of the water itself is not eligible.

What drought level does ELAP require for water and feed hauling?

Under the ELAP regulation, an eligible drought means any part of the county rated D2 (severe) for at least 8 consecutive weeks, or D3 or D4 at any time, during the normal grazing period. For water hauling, FSA also looks at whether the drought affected water availability. This is a different test from the 4-week D2 trigger for drought grazing payments under LFP.

Does ELAP pay for hay I bought in a drought?

Not for the hay itself. In a drought, ELAP can help with the cost of trucking feed to your livestock or livestock to feed beyond your normal distance, but not with the price of the feed. ELAP can help with extra feed purchased above normal during other eligible events, such as a blizzard or wildfire on non-federal land.

When is the ELAP deadline?

File a notice of loss and an application for payment with your FSA county office by March 1 after the year of the loss: March 1, 2027 for 2026 losses. You also need a timely acreage report (FSA-578) on file.

How much does ELAP pay?

FSA sets a national payment rate of 60% to 80% of the calculated loss for most livestock losses, and 90% for beginning, veteran, limited resource, and socially disadvantaged producers. Water and trucking payments are figured from FSA’s set rates ($0.11 per gallon and $3.75 per loaded mile for 2026), not from your receipts, and payments can be reduced if claims exceed available funds.

LIP: livestock that died from weather, disease, or federally protected predators.
All disaster programs, including LFP for drought grazing losses.
Drought & Disaster Dashboard: your county’s current Drought Monitor rating.

Sources

Eligible drought, truckload, and miles-above-normal definitions: 7 CFR 1416.102
Eligible losses, including water hauling and feed or livestock transportation: 7 CFR 1416.103; eligible livestock: 7 CFR 1416.104; eligible producers: 7 CFR 1416.105
Application and records: 7 CFR 1416.106; March 1 deadline: 7 CFR 1416.107; national payment rate: 7 CFR 1416.109; payment calculations, 25-mile and 1,000-mile rules, feed-needs cap: 7 CFR 1416.110
2026 rates ($0.11 per gallon, $3.75 per mile per truckload, $1.1885 per animal unit per day, honeybee values): FSA Notice ELAP-27, 2026 ELAP Payment Rates
Bird depredation and 15% honeybee mortality: FSA ELAP program page and the July 9, 2026 final rule
Funding proration: 7 CFR 1416.2; payment limits: 7 CFR 1400.1; AGI waiver: 7 CFR 1400.504

Regulation links go to the eCFR, current as of October 16, 2026. Rates checked October 21, 2026.