07/17/08 Uninsured can still buy-in to disaster program for 2008

Washington Ag July 17, 2008 The 2008 Farm Bill included a program for permanent disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers. But to be able to participate in the various disaster programs a producer must have crop insurance or non-insured crop disaster assistance, NAP. Since the 2008 Farm Bill was enacted after application periods closed for obtaining crop insurance or NAP, Chris Bieker with the Washington State office of the Farm Service Agency, says for this year only, a waiver allows producers to pay a fee, called a buy-in" fee, to be eligible for disaster assistance on their 2008 crops. Bieker: "The cost is $100 per crop and not more than $300 per producer per county. Now if they are operating in multiple counties the total maximum cost for a producer would be $900." The deadline to buy-in is September 16th and Bieker emphasizes that buying-in only makes you eligible for any disaster assistance and does not provide crop insurance coverage. To be eligible in future years producers will have to have crop insurance or NAP coverage. I'm Bob Hoff.