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USDA Office of Communications (202) 720-4623

1400 Independence Avenue

Washington, DC 20250

Lexington, KY, March 7, 2013 —The Farm Service Agency's Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting occur due to a natural disaster. The upcoming deadlines to file an application for natural disaster protection under the NAP are March 15 and May 1.

The crops for March 15 deadline are: Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cantaloupe, Carrots, Cauliflower, Corn, Corn-Hybrid Seed, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Gourds, Greens, Herbs, Lettuce, Onions, Peas, Peppers, Popcorn, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Radish, Sorghum, Sorghum-Grain, Soybeans, Squash, Strawberries, Sunflowers, Sweet Potatoes, Tobacco-Burley, Tobacco-Dark Air, Tobacco-Fire Cured, Tomatoes, Turnips, and Watermelons.

The crops for May 1 deadline are: Nursery.

Eligible producers must apply for coverage of non-insurable crops using Form CCC-471, and pay the applicable service fee at the FSA office where their farm records are maintained. The application and service fee must be filed by the application closing dates.

Contact your local FSA office for additional NAP closing dates. Producers should always check with their local FSA office for specific crops and other application closing dates.

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. As authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Act), an individual's or entity's average nonfarm adjusted gross income (AGI) limitation cannot exceed $500,000 to be eligible for NAP.

The service fee is the lesser of $250 per crop or $750 per producer per administrative county, not to exceed a total of $1,875 for a producer with farming interests in multiple counties.

Limited resource producers may request a waiver of the service fee. To qualify for an administrative service fee waiver, the producer must meet established criteria. For more information contact your local FSA office.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).