Office visit script: At FSA

What to say when you file for LFP at FSA

LFP may help with grazing losses when your county reaches a qualifying level on the U.S. Drought Monitor during the normal grazing period for your type of pasture. You apply on form CCC-853, and FSA looks at the drought weeks that count for your pasture.

Where to go: FSA county office, at your local USDA Service Center

When: File by March 1 after the calendar year of the grazing loss: March 1, 2027 for 2026 losses.

Farmer’s Navigator is not USDA. FSA decides eligibility, the number of payments and the rate.

Prints on one or two pages, with room to write.

If you call

Fill in the brackets with your own details.

“Hi, I’m calling about the Livestock Forage Disaster Program. I run [number] head of [kind of livestock] in [county], and the Drought Monitor has shown [D2 for X weeks / D3 / D4] in the county this year. I’d like to apply on form CCC-853. Could I set up a time, and what should I bring?”

If you walk in

“Hi, I’d like to apply for LFP for [year]. I run [number] head of [kind of livestock] on [X] acres of [native / improved] pasture in [county]. From what I can see, the Drought Monitor had the county at [D2 for X weeks / D3 / D4] this year. Can you check how that lines up with the normal grazing period for my pasture type, and help me with form CCC-853?”

What to bring

Livestock inventory: head of each kind and class during the 60 days before the drought began
Proof you own or lease the grazing land: deed, lease or grazing permit
Records that back up your numbers, such as purchase and sale records, grower contracts, vet records, or bank or loan papers
Evidence of the grazing loss. Ask what your office accepts.
Your acreage report (FSA-578) for the grazing land
If they aren’t on file: farm operating plan (CCC-902), AGI certification (CCC-941), conservation certification (AD-1026), customer data worksheet (AD-2047), direct deposit form (SF-3881), and member information (CCC-901) for an entity
If you sold livestock because of drought: your sale records

Questions to ask

Which drought weeks count for my county and pasture type this year, and how many monthly payments does that line up with?
What is the normal grazing period for my pasture type?
Is my acreage report in order for this land?
What normal carrying capacity do you use for my pasture type, and how does it affect the payment?
I sold livestock because of drought in [year]. How does that change the rate for me?
Should I also look at ELAP for hauling water or feed, or LIP for death losses?

What happens next

FSA reviews your application and records and may ask for more. Without all the required information, benefits can’t be approved.
FSA figures any payment from your livestock, your eligible grazing acres, and the number of monthly payments your county reached.
Keep your receipts, leases and head counts together in case FSA asks to review them.

Good to know

Drought levels tied to monthly payments, all during the normal grazing period: D2 for at least 4 consecutive weeks may mean one; D2 for at least 7 of 8 consecutive weeks, two; D3 at any time, three; D3 for at least 4 weeks or D4 at any time, four; D4 for at least 4 weeks, five.
The monthly rate is 60% of the lesser of your livestock’s monthly feed cost or the feed cost based on your land’s normal carrying capacity.
If you sold or otherwise disposed of livestock because of drought in one or both of the two previous production years, the rule sets your rate at 80% of that monthly rate.
Irrigated land generally isn’t eligible, unless it went without irrigation that year because drought cut off the surface water.

Sources

Last updated November 5, 2026. Checked against the sources above.

farmersnavigator.com/tools/scripts/lfp