By: USDA-FSA
Overview
The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA), provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops to protect against natural disasters that result in lower yields or crop losses, or prevents crop planting.
Who Is Eligible?
Eligible Producers
An eligible producer is a landowner, tenant or sharecropper who shares in the risk of producing an eligible crop and is entitled to
an ownership share of that crop. An individual’s or entity’s average adjusted gross income (AGI) cannot exceed $900,000 to be eligible for NAP payments. Also, NAP payments received, directly or indirectly, will be attributed to the applicable individual or entity and limited to $125,000 per crop year, per individual or entity for crops with basic (catastrophic) coverage. Any NAP payments received directly or indirectly for crops with additional (buy-up) coverage, will be attributed to the applicable individual or entity and limited to $300,000 per crop year, per individual or entity.
Eligible Crops
Eligible crops must be commercially produced agricultural commodities for which crop insurance is not available and be any of the following:
- Crops grown for food;
- Crops planted and grown for livestock consumption, such as grain and forage crops, including native forage; Crops grown for fiber, such as cotton and flax (except trees);
- Crops grown in a controlled environment, such as mushrooms and floriculture;
- Specialty crops, such as honey and maple sap;
- Sea oats and sea grass;
- Sweet sorghum and biomass sorghum;
- Industrial crops, including crops used in manufacturing or grown as a feedstock for renewable biofuel, renewable electricity or biobased products;
- Value loss crops, such as aquaculture, Christmas trees, ginseng, ornamental nursery and turf-grass sod; and
- Seed crops where the propagation stock is produced for sale as seed stock for other eligible NAP crop production.
What Is Eligible?
Eligible Causes of Loss
Eligible causes of loss include the following natural disasters:
- Damaging weather, such as drought,
freeze, hail, excessive moisture, excessive wind or hurricanes; - Adverse natural occurrences, such as earthquake or flood; and
- Conditions related to damaging weather or adverse natural occurrences, such as excessive heat, plant disease, volcanic smog (VOG) or insect infestation.
The damaging weather or adverse natural occurrence must occur during the coverage period, before or during harvest, and must directly affect the eligible crop.
How It Works
Coverage Levels
NAP provides basic coverage equivalent to the catastrophic level risk protection plan of insurance coverage, which is based on the amount of loss that exceeds 50 percent of expected production at 55 percent of the average market price for the crop. The 2018 Farm Bill re-authorizes higher levels of coverage ranging from 50 to 65 percent of production, in 5 percent increments, at 100 percent of the average market price. Additional (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.
Applying for Coverage
Eligible producers can apply for coverage using form CCC-471, “Application for Coverage,” and pay the applicable service fee at the FSA office where their farm records are maintained. Underserved producers will be eligible for basic NAP coverage anytime a valid CCC- 860 certification is completed. The CCC-860 form will serve as the NAP application for coverage. If a producer chooses not to participate in NAP, they must opt out on the CCC-860 form.
The application and any applicable service fee must be filed by the application closing date. Application closing dates vary by crop and are established by the FSA State Committee. Contact your local FSA office to verify application closing dates.
Producers who apply for NAP coverage acknowledge that they have received the NAP Basic Provisions, available at FSA county offices and at fsa.usda.gov/nap.
For More InformationThis article is for informational purposes only; other eligibility requirements or restrictions may apply. To find more information about FSA disaster assistance programs, visit farmers.gov or contact your local FSA office. To find your local FSA office, visit farmers.gov/ service-center-locator.