NAP Buy-Up Coverage Available -- Provides Greater Protection for Fruit, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Growers

The USDA announced the opportunity for fruit, vegetable and specialty crop growers to receive greater protection through the FSA’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) buy-up program. The new options, created by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides greater coverage for losses when natural disasters affect specialty crops such as vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, floriculture, ornamental nursery, aquaculture, turf grass, ginseng, honey, syrup, and energy crops.

Previously, the program offered coverage at 55 percent of the average market price for crop losses that exceed 50 percent of expected production. Producers can now choose higher levels of coverage, up to 65 percent of their expected production at 100 percent of the average market price.

The expanded protection will be especially helpful to beginning and traditionally underserved producers, as well as farmers with limited resources, who will receive fee waivers and premium reductions for expanded coverage. More crops are now eligible for the program, including expanded aquaculture production practices, and sweet and biomass sorghum. For the first time, a range of crops used to produce bioenergy will be eligible as well.

To help producers learn more about the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program and how it can help them, USDA, in partnership with Michigan State University and the University of Illinois, created an online resource. The Web tool, available at www.fsa.usda.gov/nap, allows producers to determine whether their crops are eligible for coverage. It also gives them an opportunity to explore a variety of options and levels to determine the best protection level for their operation.

Because the 2015 application closing dates for some crops have already passed before FSA made the buy-up coverage available, this provides producers with an opportunity to obtain buy-up coverage for those crops for the 2015 crop year by submitting an application for coverage requesting buy-up coverage and paying the service fee, even if the producer did not previously obtain CAT-level coverage and pay the service fee for the crop, by Jan. 14, 2015.

The application and service fee deadline for the 2015 NAP coverage was Nov. 20, 2014 on Apples, Asparagus, Blueberries, Caneberries, Cherries, Chestnuts, Forage for Hay and Pasture, Grapes, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Strawberries, Honey and Maple Sap for Ohio.  Since this deadline has passed, producers interested in obtaining additional buy-up coverage must submit an application for buy-up coverage and pay the service fee by Jan. 14, 2015.

For questions or to learn more about the NAP buy-up coverage, visit the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov/nap or contact your local FSA office for additional information.