The Livestock Indemnity Program is a permanent USDA disaster program that pays livestock producers 75% of an animal’s average fair market value when animals die above normal mortality because of qualifying weather, attacks by federally protected predators, or disease tied to an eligible weather event. Contract growers of poultry and swine receive 75% of their average income loss per head instead.1Farm Service Agency. Livestock Indemnity Program2eCFR. 7 CFR 1416.306 – Payment Calculation The Farm Service Agency (FSA) runs the program under the 2018 Farm Bill.
Who Can File a Claim
LIP separates applicants into two categories with different rules. An eligible owner holds legal title to the animals on the day of the loss and must be raising them commercially. Hobby animals and pets do not qualify.3eCFR. 7 CFR Part 1416 Subpart D – Livestock Indemnity Program
A contract grower qualifies only when there is a written agreement with the owner, the grower has physical possession and control of the animals, and the grower bears financial responsibility for their care. Contract growers can claim only poultry and swine losses. Owners can claim across every eligible species.4GovInfo. 7 CFR 1416.303-304
Both must be “actively engaged in farming,” meaning they contribute land, capital, or equipment along with personal labor or management. Operations made up entirely of family members are exempt from the detailed hour-counting rules that apply to other entities.
The AGI Cap
Your average adjusted gross income over the three tax years before the most recently completed tax year cannot exceed $900,000.5Farm Service Agency. Adjusted Gross Income Joint filers are measured individually, not as a household. You certify AGI each year.
For LLCs, partnerships, and corporations, FSA uses “direct attribution”: the test runs through every person or entity holding an interest in the applicant, including sub-entities. If a member of that ownership chain is over the threshold, the share attributable to that member is ineligible.1Farm Service Agency. Livestock Indemnity Program There is no per-person cap on the total LIP dollars an eligible participant can receive.6Farm Service Agency. Payment Limitations
What Losses Actually Qualify
Not every dead animal produces a payment. The death must exceed normal mortality and stem from one of three causes.
Adverse Weather
Eligible events include blizzards, earthquakes, excessive heat or cold, floods, hurricanes, lightning, tornados, volcanic eruptions, and wildfires. The weather has to be abnormal or unexpected for the place and time of year. A cold snap that fits the normal winter pattern for your area will not qualify even if animals die, because those losses fall inside normal mortality.7Farm Service Agency. Notice LDAP-81 – Establishing Extreme Cold and Extreme Heat Thresholds Under LIP
FSA applies specific thresholds. For extreme heat, the Temperature Humidity Index has to exceed 84°F for two consecutive days, and must not have dropped below 75°F for two consecutive nights before the deaths. For extreme cold, FSA uses wind chill (or ambient temperature for sheltered animals) sustained across two or more consecutive days, with thresholds that vary by species and size. Adult beef cattle need wind chill at or below −40°F. Lambs, by contrast, have a threshold of −10°F. Younger and smaller animals have less extreme thresholds than adults across every species.8Farm Service Agency. Livestock Indemnity Program Handbook
Predator Attacks
LIP covers kills by animals that were reintroduced by the federal government or are protected under federal law such as the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, or the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The list includes wolves, grizzly bears, bald and golden eagles, California condors, ospreys, and several vulture species, among others.9Farm Service Agency. Livestock Indemnity Program 1-LIP Amendment 3 Only confirmed kills qualify. A wildlife agency classification of “probable” is not enough.
Disease
Disease deaths qualify only when the disease was brought on or worsened by a qualifying weather event. Routine health problems and outbreaks unrelated to weather are not covered. This is one of the narrower conditions in the program and one applicants often misjudge.
Animals That Are Covered
Owners can claim beef and dairy cattle, bison, buffalo, beefalo, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese), equine, alpacas, llamas, emus, ostriches, elk, deer, caribou, reindeer, and water buffalo.4GovInfo. 7 CFR 1416.303-304 Contract growers are limited to poultry and swine.
Every species breaks into categories by type, class, and weight, and each category has its own payment rate. Payment per head can differ by more than $1,000 within a single species, so the category you enter on the application matters.
How the Payment Is Calculated
Owners receive 75% of the national average fair market value for the animal category, drawn from prior-calendar-year prices. Contract growers receive 75% of average income loss per head, and any compensation the grower already received from the contracting party for those animals is subtracted.2eCFR. 7 CFR 1416.306 – Payment Calculation
Selected 2025 per-head owner rates give a sense of the range (2026 rates were not yet published):10Farm Service Agency. Disaster Assistance – Livestock Indemnity Program
- Adult beef cow: $1,810.09
- Adult beef bull: $2,353.12
- Beef calf under 400 lbs: $770.86
- Adult dairy cow: $1,681.88
- Ewe: $171.36
- Broiler chicken (4.26–6.25 lbs): $3.07
- Swine sow or boar (450+ lbs): $236.78
- Equine: $1,260.18
Contract grower rates are substantially lower because they reflect income loss rather than animal value. A broiler chicken pays $0.34 per head for a contract grower against $3.07 for an owner.
The Normal Mortality Deduction
Before FSA calculates your payment, it subtracts the animals that would have been expected to die under normal conditions during the year. The state FSA committee sets the applicable percentage using local data, and that percentage is multiplied by your inventory at the time of the loss.11Farm Service Agency. Livestock Indemnity Program Handbook
An example: you own 100 adult beef cattle, the state normal mortality rate is 2%, and 5 head die during a qualifying blizzard. Your normal mortality threshold is 100 × 2% = 2 head. FSA subtracts that from your reported loss: 5 − 2 = 3 head eligible for payment. This deduction applies no matter how severe the event was.
Injured Animals Sold at a Reduced Price
LIP is not limited to deaths. An owner who sells an injured animal at a reduced price because of an eligible weather event or predator attack can receive the difference between normal value and the actual sale price. The sale must go through an independent third party such as a sale barn, slaughter facility, or rendering facility, and you need documentation of the sale price.8Farm Service Agency. Livestock Indemnity Program Handbook
Two limits: contract growers cannot claim reduced-sale payments, and injuries caused by disease alone, without an underlying weather event, do not qualify under this provision even for owners.
Documentation
Most claims succeed or fail on paperwork. FSA needs two things: evidence the animals existed (beginning inventory) and evidence they died or were injured (proof of loss).
Acceptable proof of loss includes rendering truck receipts, veterinary records, date-stamped photographs, FEMA records, National Guard records, brand inspection records, private insurance documents, bank or loan documents, dairy herd improvement records, tax records, and contemporaneous producer records that existed at the time of the event. The documentation has to identify quantity, species or type, and weight range.12Farm Service Agency. Livestock Indemnity Program Handbook 1-LIP
Beginning inventory is shown through purchase receipts, calving or lambing records, bank records, and similar sources. If the County Committee finds anything questionable, it will ask you in writing for more verifiable documentation.
When You Cannot Produce Standard Proof
If your records were destroyed along with the animals, FSA allows third-party certification on Form CCC-854. Rules are strict: the third party must be independent of your operation, cannot be a hired worker or family member, and must certify from personal observation rather than hearsay. You also have to certify that no other form of proof is available and still provide acceptable beginning inventory documentation.13Farm Service Agency. Livestock Indemnity Program Handbook 1-LIP FSA staff knowledge of local weather does not count.
Deadlines and Forms
Filing takes two steps at the FSA county office serving the physical location of the loss: a notice of loss and an application for payment. Both are due by March 1 following the end of the calendar year in which the loss occurred.14eCFR. 7 CFR Part 1416 Subpart D – Livestock Indemnity Program – Section 1416.305 For animals lost during a July 2026 heat event, both filings are due by March 1, 2027.
The primary application form is CCC-852, and it asks for the livestock category, the date and nature of the loss event, the number of animals lost, and your beginning inventory. The notice of loss has to be accompanied by documentation showing that the eligible loss condition actually occurred and caused the deaths. File the notice early. Waiting until late February to start pulling records is the surest way to miss something.
If Your Claim Is Denied
You have 30 calendar days from receiving the adverse decision to file an appeal with USDA’s National Appeals Division. The appeal has to include a copy of the adverse decision (if you have it), a short explanation of why you disagree, and your signature. Notarization is not required and an attorney is not required, though you can authorize a representative in writing.15U.S. Department of Agriculture. How to File a NAD Appeal Appeals go in by mail, fax, or electronically. The 30-day window runs from the date you received the decision, not the date it was issued, and it is firm.
Taxes
LIP payments are generally taxable income. Congress did not exclude them, so plan to report the payment on your federal return for the year you receive it. Depending on your accounting method and how you handle the basis of the lost animals, deferral or offset may be available; the interaction between disaster payments, casualty loss deductions, and livestock basis is worth handing to a tax professional who works with agricultural producers.