Monday Deadline to Purchase Crop Disaster Coverage

From the Farm Service Agency:

Producers have until Monday, March 16, to purchase coverage through the Noninsurable Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). 

NAP provides financial assistance to producers of noninsurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters.

“Purchasing a crop insurance policy is an easy way for producers to mitigate risk,” said James Barber, state director of the Farm Service Agency. “The past few years have shown that natural disasters can severely impact an otherwise successful operation.”

In order to meet eligibility requirements for NAP, crops must be noninsurable, commercially-produced agricultural commodity crops for which the catastrophic risk protection level of crop insurance is not available. 

If the Risk Management Agency (RMA) offers coverage for a crop in the county, then NAP coverage is not available for that crop.

In the event of a natural disaster, NAP provides catastrophic level  coverage based on the amount of loss that exceeds 50 percent of expected production at 55 percent of the average market price. 

The 2014 Farm Bill authorizes additional coverage levels ranging from 50 percent to 65 percent of production, in 5 percent increments, at 100 percent of the average market price. 

Additional, or “buy-up” coverage must be elected by a producer by the application closing date. Producers who elect additional coverage must pay a premium in addition to the service fee. Crops intended for grazing are not eligible for additional coverage.

Producers must file the application and service fee by the March 16 deadline. The service fee for NAP is the lesser of $250 per crop or $750 per producer per administrative county, not to exceed a total of $1,875 for a producer with farming interests in multiple counties.

The 2015 NAP application deadline date for the 2015 coverage is March 16 for Spring Seeded Crops (artichokes, beans, broccoflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, buckwheat, cabbage, calaloo, canary melon, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, sweet corn, crenshaw melons, cucumbers, eggplant, gourds, honeydew, hops, Jerusalem artichokes, kohlrabi, Korean golden melon, millet, okra, parsnips, peas, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, rutabaga, safflower, sesame, sorghum forage, soybeans, squash, sunflowers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, watermelon, yams).

For more information on sales closing dates and NAP, contact your local FSA office: http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=ny&agency=fsa