New Crop Disaster Assistance Program Available

Date:01-20-2010

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack encouraged producers to visit their USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office beginning on Jan. 4,2010, to participate in the program if they suffered crop production losses during the 2008 crop year.

"This program is an important component ofthe farm safety net and will provide financial assistance to producers who have suffered crop losses due to natural disasters," said Vilsack. "Producers will receive payments beginning in January, in time to help them with planning for next years crop."

SURE provides crop disaster assistance payments to eligible producers on farms that have incurred crop production or crop quality losses. The program takes into consideration crop losses on all crops grown by a producer nationwide. SURE provides assistance in an amount equal to 60 percent ofthe difference between the SURE farm guarantee and total farm revenue. The farm guarantee is based on the amount ofcrop insurance and Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage on the farm. Total farm revenue takes into account the actual value ofproduction on the farm as well as insurance indemnities and certain farm program payments.

To be eligible for SURE, producers must have suffered at least a 10% production loss on a crop ofeconomic significance. In addition, producers must meet the risk management purchase requirement by either obtaining a policy or plan ofinsurance, under the Federal Crop Insurance Act or NAP coverage, for all economically significant crops. For 2008 crops, producers had the opportunity to obtain a waiver ofthe risk management purchase requirement through a buy-in provision. Producers considered socially disadvantaged, a beginning farmer or rancher, or a limited resource farmer may be eligible for SURE without a policy or plan of insurance or NAP coverage.

In addition to meeting the risk management purchase requirement, a producer must have a farming interest physically located in a county that was declared a primary disaster county or contiguous county by the Agriculture Secretary under a Secretarial Disaster Designation. Regardless ofa Secretarial Disaster Designation, individual producers may also be eligible for SURE ifthe actual production on the farm is less than 50 percent ofthe normal production on the farm due to a natural disaster. For SURE, a farm is defined as all crops in which a producer had an interest nationwide.

Click here to view the SURE fact sheet.

For more information on the SURE program, please visit your local FSA county office or http://www.fsa.usda.gov.