Producers have until close of business on Dec. 1 to purchase their Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) Policy for FY 2010 honey crops. The service fee is $250 per crop, not to exceed $750 per producer per county, or $1,875 for multi-county producers.

The 2008 Farm Bill created a permanent disaster program to replace the “ad hoc” disaster programs of past years. The name of this new program is Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program “SURE.” This is a revenue based program that uses a formula to compare the expected revenue to actual revenue for your entire farming operation. In order to be eligible for a payment under SURE, you are required to purchase insurance on all crops produced each year in your farming operation.

Producers in counties that have received a Secretarial Disaster Designation or that are contiguous to a county with a disaster designation are eligible for a payment if the calculated expected revenue is less than the estimated revenue. Otherwise, it will take a 50 percent loss in production due to weather related conditions to be eligible.

Previous “ad hoc” disaster programs made payments based on individual crop losses or insurance units. The SURE program looks at the entire farming operation. This includes any crops, in all counties and states, of which you share in the production. To be eligible you will need to make sure you have insurance and/or NAP coverage on all crops in which you have an interest in.

For more detailed information on this and other programs please contact your local Farm Service Agency office at (229) 242-0575.