March 15, 2013 deadline to purchase risk coverage

Cheyenne County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Brad Fraass, urges producers who want to purchase coverage through the Noninsurable Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to do so before the sales closing date of Friday, March 15, 2013.

“Purchasing NAP protection is an easy way for producers to practice risk management,” said Fraass. “2012 has proven that natural disasters can directly affect the profitability and recovery of agricultural operations,” he said.

In order to meet eligibility requirements for 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 under the insurance program in the county, then NAP coverage is not available for that crop.

Spring seeded crops eligible for NAP coverage may include forage sorghum, hay millet, oats hay, canola, brown mustard, mixed forage, peas, and etc. This March 15th deadline also applies for native grass and alfalfa coverage. 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.

For more information on the sales closing dates and NAP, contact the Cheyenne County FSA office at (308)254-4507, or online at http://www.fsa.usda.gov.