U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) announcement that it will provide Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) assistance to producers for a portion of the costs they have incurred from transporting their livestock to feed sources. This change will be retroactive for 2021 and available for losses in 2022 and subsequent years.

 

“When the weather gets rough, South Dakota producers often have to transport their livestock to available feed sources, especially in drought years, which takes time and can cost a significant amount of money,” said Thune. “I’m pleased that USDA has responded to my request to address this gap in coverage for ELAP assistance, which will help producers recoup some of these costs, and I will continue to work to bolster this critical disaster assistance program and others like it.”

 

In December 2021, Thune and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) led a bipartisan group of their colleagues in urging USDA to provide ELAP assistance for transporting livestock to feed, which was previously not an eligible expense under the program.