The USDA’s Commodity Credit Corp. and Farm Service Agency published a final rule on March 2 implementing changes to the agency’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), as required by the 2018 Farm Bill.

NAP provides financial assistance to producers of noninsurable crops to protect against natural disasters that result in crop losses or prevent crop planting. The program is available for crops for which catastrophic risk protection or certain other types of coverage is not available. Industrial crops, including those grown expressly for the purpose of producing a feedstock for renewable biofuel, renewable electricity or biobased products are among those that are eligible for NAP coverage.

According to the UDA, the rule makes buy-up coverage levels available for 2019 and future years, increases serve fees, and extends the service fee waiver and premium reduction to eligible veterans. The rule also includes changes to the payment limitation and native sod provisions and clarifies when NAP coverage is available for crops and when certain crop insurance is available under the Federal Crop Insurance Act. In addition, the rule adds provisions for eligibility and program requirements for new producers or producers with less than 1-year of growing experience with a new crop, and makes some additional minor changes to clarify existing NAP requirements and improve program integrity.

A full copy of the final rule is available on the Federal Register website.