For Immediate Release

January 12, 2011

Contact:

Ethel Truly 601-965-4300, ext.102

(Jackson, Miss.) – Jan. 12, 2012 - Michael R. Sullivan, USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director, urges producers who want to purchase coverage through the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to do so on or before the application closing date for the applicable crop.

NAP provides financial assistance to eligible producers when natural disasters cause catastrophic loss of production (low yield) or prevented planting of an eligible noninsurable crop by providing coverage equivalent to the catastrophic risk protection level of crop insurance. In the event of a natural disaster, NAP covers the amount of loss greater than 50 percent of the expected production based on the producer’s approved yield and reported acreage.

The February application closing dates for NAP crops offered in Mississippi are as follows:

Beans, Cantaloupe, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Honeydew Melon, Lettuce, Pecans, Peppers, Radishes, Squash, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watermelons

Corn, Cotton, Millet, Okra, Peanuts, Peas, Pumpkins, Rice, Sorghum, Soybeans, Sudex, Sugarcane, Sweet Potatoes

NAP is available on commercially-produced agricultural commodity crops for which the catastrophic risk protection level of crop insurance is not available. If the Risk Management Agency (RMA) offers coverage for a crop in the county, then NAP coverage is not available for that crop.

Eligible producers can apply for coverage using form CCC-471, Application for Coverage. Producers must file the application and service fee on or before the application closing for the applicable crop. 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.

For more information on application closing dates and NAP, contact your FSA office.