(KLZA) Richardson County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Shawna Mitchell, urges producers who want to purchase coverage through the Noninsurable Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to do so before the sales closing date.
The NAP provides financial assistance to producers of noninsurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting occur due to normal disasters.
The following crops have a NAP application closing date of September 1, 2012: Christmas Trees, Nursery Crops, Turf Grass and Aquaculture.
The following crops have a NAP application closing date of Septmber 30, 2012: Mixed Forage, Rye, and Falls Seeded Wheat.
In order to meet eligibility requirements for the NAP, crops must be noninsurable, 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.
    In the event of a natural disaster, NAP covers the amount of loss greater than 50 percent of the expected production based on the approved yield and reported acreage.
    Eligible producers must file the application and service fee by the September deadline. 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 the sales closing dates and the NAP, contact the Richardson County FSA office at 402-245-2401.