9-22 IAN NAP

 USDA Reminds Producers of September 30th Sales Closing Date for Noninsurable Crops

 USDA Farm Service Agency urges producers who want to purchase coverage for certain crops through the Noninsurable Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to do so before the sales closing date of  September 30, 2011 for all Fall seeded crops.

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

 Here’s Farm Program Specialist Jeff Mitchell "The best way to explain Noninsurable Crop Disaster Assistance Program  it is to state that it is an insurance program that is available to producers for those crops for which the risk management agency will not offer at least a catastrophic level of insurance. In those cases Farm service agency does offer insurance coverage that is comparable to a catastrophic loss coverage through the risk management agency that compensates producers for disasters due to natural events.”

 Purchasing a crop insurance policy is an easy way for producers to practice risk management," said Dick Rush, State Executive Director. "This year alone has proved that natural disasters can directly affect the profitability and recovery of agricultural operations." 

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 covers the amount of loss greater than 50 percent of the expected production based on the approved yield and reported acreage.

Eligible producers can apply for coverage using form CCC-471, Application for Coverage. Producers must file the application and service fee by the Sept. 1^st deadline. The service fee 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.