To
provide crop loss assistance comparable to the catastrophic risk
protection level of crop insurance to producers of commercial crops
or other agricultural commodities for which the catastrophic risk
protection level of crop insurance is not available.
TYPES
OF ASSISTANCE:
Direct Payments with Unrestricted Use. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES
AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
None.
ELIGIBILITY
REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant
Eligibility: Eligible crops include each commercial
crop or other agricultural commodities (except livestock and their
by-products; tobacco; and trees grown for wood, paper, or pulp products)
that is produced for food or fiber and specifically includes: Floricultural,
ornamental nursery, and Christmas tree crops, turfgrass sod, seed
crops, aquaculture (including ornamental fish), and industrial crops.
An eligible producer is an owner, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper:
(1) Who shares in the risk of producing the crop; (2) who is entitled
to share in the crop available for marketing or would have shared
had the crop been produced; and (3) whose qualifying gross revenue
is less than $2 million for the preceding tax year for which an
application for coverage is filed.
Beneficiary
Eligibility: Applicant Eligibility: Eligible
crops include each commercial crop or other agricultural commodities
(except livestock and their by-products; tobacco; and trees grown
for wood, paper, or pulp products) that is produced for food or
fiber and specifically includes: floricultural, ornamental nursery,
and Christmas tree crops, turfgrass sod, seed crops, aquaculture
(including ornamental fish), and industrial crops. An eligible
producer is an owner, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper: (1) who
shares in the risk of producing the crop; (2) who is entitled
to share in the crop available for marketing or would have shared
had the crop been produced; and (3) whose qualifying gross revenue
is less than $2 million for the preceding tax year for which an
application for coverage is filed.
Credentials/Documentation:
Applicants must provide to the local administrative FSA office,
annual certifications of acreage, yield, and production. Randomly
selected producers and producers requesting program payments must
also provide acceptable records of production. Applicants must
provide evidence as necessary for a proper determination of their
eligibility.
Pre-application
Coordination: None. This program is excluded
from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application
Procedure: Applicants must file an application
for coverage in the local administrative FSA office. An applicable
service fee must accompany the application. Coverage is effective
the later of: (1) 30 days after the application for coverage is
filed; (2) date the crop is planted for yield-based crops or the
beginning of the crop year for all other eligible crops. Other
documentation required to fulfill the application requirements
include: (1) A report of acreage, facility, etc.; (2) a notice
of loss when the eligible crop is prevented from being planted
as a result of eligible natural disaster or the eligible planted
crop or commodity suffers loss of yield due to eligible natural
disaster; (3) if the crop is harvested, a certification of production,
and in the crop year for which an application for payment is filed,
acceptable evidence of production, (4) if the crop will not be
harvested, a request to the local county FSA office for appraisal;
and (5) a certification of gross revenue.
Award
Procedure: None.
Deadlines:
Applications for coverage to include both prevented planting and
low-yield coverage must be filed at least 30 calendar days prior
to the final planting date for yield based crops or in the case
of multiple planted crops, 30 calendar days prior to the beginning
of the respective planting period. Applications for coverage to
include only low-yield coverage may be filed until the final planting
date for yield based crops or in the case of multiple planted
crops, the beginning of the respective planting period. Applications
for all other eligible crops must be filed no later than the beginning
of the crop year. Other reporting requirements and deadlines will
become applicable upon acceptance of the application for coverage.
Range
of Approval/Disapproval Time: The county committee
will normally make a decision regarding the application for payment
within 60 calendar days after all required information and documentation
is received.
Appeals:
Applicants may request reconsideration of a decision by the decision
authority or appeal such decisions to a higher authority including
the county and State FSA committees and the National Appeals Division.
Renewals:
None.
ASSISTANCE
CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula
and Matching Requirements: Formula and matching
requirements are not considered under this part.
Length
and Time Phasing of Assistance: Assistance
is normally provided in a single payment following approval of
the application for payment.
POST
ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports:
There are no reports due for post assistance requirements under
this program.
Audits:
Recipients under this program are subject to audit by the Office
of the Regional Inspector General, USDA.
Records:
Applicants must retain financial books and records that permit
verification of all transactions for at least 3 years following
the end of the calendar year in which an application for coverage
is filed.
Payments made under the Noninsured Assistance Program in fiscal
year 2001 totaled $37,073 for the 1996 crops, $1,953,979 for the
1997 crops, $8,725,754 for the 1998 crops, $25,777,695 for the 1999
crops and $1,671,237 for the 2000 crops as of September 30, 2001.
Payments made under the Noninsured Assistance Program in fiscal
year 2001 totaled $10,948,487 ($215,840 for the 1996 crops, $0 for
the 1997 crops, $197,314 for the 1998 crops, $7,389,138 for the
1999 crops, and $3,146,195 for the 2001 crops) as of December 31,
2001.
REGULATIONS,
GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
Procedural handbooks and published regulations are available in
county FSA offices.
INFORMATION
CONTACTS:
Regional
or Local Office: Consult the local telephone
directory for location of the nearest county FSA office. If no listing,
contact the appropriate State FSA office.
Headquarters
Office: Department of Agriculture, Farm Service
Agency, Production, Emergency and Compliance Division, Noninsured
Assistance Program Branch, Stop 0517, 1400 Independence Avenue
SW, Washington, DC 20250-0526. Telephone: (202)720-5172.
Web
Site Address: http://www.fsa.usda.gov
EXAMPLES
OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
There are no funded projects related to this program.
