LIP Enhancement Act of 2025
The Livestock Indemnity Program Enhancement Act of 2025 would expand the existing Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) in the Agricultural Act of 2014 by creating an additional payment category for unborn livestock. If a livestock death includes an animal that was gestating at the time of death and the loss exceeds normal mortality due to a condition already recognized in LIP, eligible producers could receive extra payments. The bill applies to unborn losses incurred on or after January 1, 2024, and the Secretary would set payment rates, up to 85% of the base LIP rate for the lowest weight class, with multipliers that affect the final payment amount. In effect, the bill adds a mechanism to compensate for pregnancies lost due to livestock deaths caused by qualifying disasters or conditions, aiming to reduce the financial impact on producers when unborn offspring are lost along with the dam. Key design elements include (1) eligibility tied to losses beyond normal mortality from a specified condition, (2) a capped payment rate relative to the base LIP payment, and (3) a tiered multiplier system that scales the unborn-livestock payments based on how the unborn animal is categorized within the existing LIP framework and gestation status. The provision is defined to include unborn offspring of livestock already listed in LIP categories and to be paid according to whether the unborn is categorized as A, B, D, E, F, or G under the current program.
Key Points
- 1Additional payment category: The bill adds a new section (1501(b)(5)) to create “Additional payment for unborn livestock,” making unborn losses eligible for extra LIP payments when the loss occurs on or after January 1, 2024 and surpasses normal mortality due to a specified condition.
- 2Eligibility trigger: Payments apply to unborn livestock death losses on farms where those losses exceed normal mortality attributable to a condition described in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), i.e., the existing condition that causes abnormal mortality under LIP.
- 3Payment rate and cap: The additional payment rate is set by the Secretary and cannot exceed 85% of the base LIP payment rate for the lowest weight class of the relevant livestock, as determined by the Farm Service Agency (FSA).
- 4Calculation of payment amount: The payment amount is the base rate (the rate determined under the capped 85% provision) multiplied by specific factors depending on the LIP subparagraph category of the livestock:
- 5- Multiply by 1 for categories A, B, or F.
- 6- Multiply by 2 for category D.
- 7- Multiply by 12 for category E.
- 8- Multiply by the average number of births per gestation cycle for the species (category G).
- 9Definition of unborn losses: “Unborn livestock death losses” means losses of livestock listed in subparagraphs A, B, D, E, F, or G of subsection (a)(4) that were gestating at the time of the dam’s death.
- 10Interaction with existing LIP categories: The unborn loss payments tie into the existing LIP framework, using the same subparagraph categories (A, B, D, E, F, G) to determine multipliers and using the gestation status to define what counts as an unborn loss.
- 11Administrative authority: Determinations, rate-setting, and administration would be carried out by the Secretary and the Administrator of the FSA, consistent with how LIP is currently managed.