A county qualifies for the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) from the U.S. Drought Monitor map. Four straight weeks of severe drought (D2) during a pasture type's normal grazing period qualifies it for one monthly payment, and worse or longer drought adds more.
2026 LFP list, Panhandle area
| Texas: our 26 counties | 26 on the list (246 of 254 statewide) |
| Oklahoma: our 8 counties | 8 on the list (77 of 77 statewide) |
| Kansas: our 10 counties | 10 on the list (64 of 105 statewide) |
| New Mexico: our 5 counties | 5 on the list (33 of 33 statewide) |
Source: FSA LFP county file · as of Oct 29, 2026
FSA reads the weekly Drought Monitor map for every county and pasture type. The payment months, per FSA's program page, are:
- D2 (severe) for at least 4 consecutive weeks: 1 monthly payment
- D2 for at least 7 of 8 consecutive weeks: 2 monthly payments
- D3 (extreme) at any time: 3 monthly payments
- D3 for at least 4 weeks, or D4 (exceptional) at any time: 4 monthly payments
- D4 for 4 weeks (not necessarily consecutive): 5 monthly payments
The 4-week and 7-of-8-week D2 rules are new. They came with the 2025 law FSA calls the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. Before that, the first payment needed 8 straight weeks of D2.
The weeks must fall inside the normal grazing period for that pasture type in that county. That's why the same county can show 5 months for native pasture but fewer for a short-season forage like annual ryegrass.
A county on the list doesn't mean every operation gets paid. You still apply at your county FSA office with proof of the grazing land (owned or cash-leased), your livestock and your losses, and FSA decides eligibility. Fire losses count only on federally managed land.
FSA posts an updated county file as the map changes. Cownty reads that file and shows each county's status and the most months it can pay.
Official sources
Rules checked against these pages on Oct 18, 2026. Live numbers update with each data load. Information only: the agency decides. Not affiliated with USDA.