Wildfires caused catastrophic damage in Nebraska, prompting the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to provide additional flexibility for impacted livestock insurance policyholders. Recovery efforts have disrupted local infrastructure, communications, and travel, limiting many producers’ ability to contact agents, make policy changes, or report losses within the Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) Basic Provisions 72-hour reporting requirement.

Severe wildfire damage has created shortages of feed and forage supplies, forcing some producers to market livestock earlier than anticipated. While the LRP Basic Provisions require livestock to be owned within the last 60 days of the insurance period or coverage is terminated with premium owed and no indemnities payable, RMA notes the requirement is intended to ensure insurable interest and does not affect actuarial performance.

To address these challenges, RMA authorized Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) in all Nebraska counties impacted by wildfire to consider individual circumstances when accepting delayed notices of livestock death under LRP Feeder and Fed Cattle coverage. AIPs may also waive the 60-day ownership requirement for Specific Coverage Endorsements in effect as of May 1, 2026, provided producers can verify ownership through documentation such as sales receipts, kill sheets, or similar records.

For Livestock Gross Margin Cattle coverage, RMA authorized AIPs to count livestock deaths caused by the Nebraska wildfires as actual target marketing purposes of the “85% rule” and market factor calculations. RMA stated it will continue monitoring the situation and may issue additional emergency procedures if necessary.

Please access Managers Bulletin MGR-26-005 for additional information.

In addition to MGR-26-005, wildfires also caused catastrophic damage in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. As a result, MGR-26-005.1 was issued on May 6, 2026, to allow the same emergency procedures to apply to these states as outlined for Nebraska.