Sign up for NAP coverage by Oct. 1

Delta County Farm Service Agency (FSA) wants to remind agricultural producers of the Oct. 1 deadline to purchase Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage for 2013 crops.  The Oct. 1 deadline is for wheat, both winter and spring, announced Alan Bull, County Director.

Now is the time to look ahead at your 2013 crop year plans and evaluate the need to purchase coverage against loss of production as a result of natural disaster on otherwise non-insurable crops.

NAP provides coverage for crops for which the catastrophic level of insurance coverage is not available.  The program provides financial assistance to producers when low yields, loss of production, or prevented planting occur as a result of natural disasters.    Eligible producers may be compensated for losses exceeding 50 percent of the expected yield based on 55 percent of the average market price of the commodity.  Prevented planting coverage applies if more than 35 percent of the intended acreage is prevented from being planted.  To reflect a decrease in production costs incurred, the payment rate is reduced for any crop that is unharvested or prevented from being planted.  Producers cannot receive assistance for the same loss under more than one USDA program.

An eligible producer is an owner, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper who shares in the risk of producing the crop or is entitled to share in the crop available for marketing from the farm or would have shared had the crop been produced.

To be eligible to receive coverage, a producer shall pay a nonrefundable service fee of $250 per crop, not to exceed $750 per county, or $1,875 for a multi-county producer.  Payment of the service fee is due at the time the producer files an application for coverage.  Service fees may be waived for limited-resource producers.

Bull noted, "With the application closing date of Monday, Oct. 1, 2012, we urge farmers, landowners and ranchers who wish to elect coverage or continue their enrollment, to complete an application at their local FSA office." Application for coverage closing dates for various crops is scheduled throughout the year.

For more information on the October deadline or other deadlines contact the Delta County FSA Office at (970) 874-5726 ext 2, or come by the office located at 690 Industrial Boulevard in Delta, between 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

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