California counties at an LFP drought level in 2026
Each California county where fn’s weekly U.S. Drought Monitor record shows a drought level that the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) ties to monthly payments this year, with the most payments that level is tied to. A county on this list may be eligible. FSA decides eligibility, including your county’s normal grazing period and pasture type. County names link to fn’s county guide with the local FSA office.
Drought map of Oct 27, 2026. Checking for a newer weekly map…
fn has no grazing period on file for California, so every week of 2026 is counted here. LFP counts only weeks inside your county’s normal grazing period, so FSA’s level for your county may be lower. Your FSA office has the dates.
No California county shows an LFP drought level in fn’s weekly data for 2026 so far.
How this list works
- Drought data: fn’s weekly copy of the U.S. Drought Monitor county statistics. A week counts at the worst level touching any part of the county. The file updates each Thursday after the new map; this page reads the newest copy when it loads.
- Payment levels (7 CFR 1416.207, with the D2 change from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act): D2 for 4 weeks in a row = up to 1 monthly payment; D2 in 7 of 8 weeks = 2; D3 in any week = 3; D3 for 4 or more weeks, or D4 in any week = 4; D4 for 4 or more weeks = 5. The highest level reached in 2026 is shown.
- Grazing period: LFP counts only drought weeks inside the county’s normal grazing period. fn has a state-level native-pasture period on file for 15 states (Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming) and counts only those weeks there. In other states every week is counted, so the level shown may be higher than FSA’s. Periods can differ by county and pasture type.
- Earlier drought this year: for states with a grazing period on file, fn also checks every weekly map of 2026 (the copy published with the site), so a D2 run that ended earlier still counts. “First met” is the first map date that check reached a payment level.
- This is not FSA’s list. FSA decides which counties and producers are eligible. If your county qualifies, the application is form CCC-853 at your FSA office, due March 1 after the year of the loss (March 1, 2027 for 2026 drought), per FSA’s LFP page.
To estimate a payment for your herd, use the LFP calculator; it checks your county’s level from the same data.