Kansas Farm Service Agency has extended the application closing date for certain crops under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. Crops eligible for NAP benefits are limited to those not insurable in the county and are produced for food or fiber.
The original Sept. 1 deadline has been extended three months to Dec. 1 as the final date to pay the applicable service fee and obtain 2009 NAP coverage for forage use of barley, rye, triticale, wheat, aquaculture, canola, Christmas trees and nursery crops.
The administrative service fee is $250 per crop per administrative county, not to exceed $750 per producer per administrative county and a $1,875 maximum fee for multi-county producers.
Interested producers must pay the fee and file form CCC-471, Application for Coverage, by this application closing deadline.
Dec. 1 also is the final date to pay the applicable service fee and obtain NAP coverage for all grasses, including alfalfa and a wide variety of fruit crops.
This coverage entitles eligible producers to a payment of 55 percent of an average market price for the commodity if a natural disaster caused a 50 percent production loss or greater of an eligible crop.
Producers must obtain NAP coverage on all 2009 non-insurable crops and purchase crop insurance on all 2009 insurable crops to remain eligible for the 2009 supplemental disaster assistance programs recently announced in the 2008 farm bill.
Interested producers should contact their local Farm Service Agency prior to the Dec. 1 application closing date to obtain NAP coverage.
Bill Harmon is executive director of the Marion County FSA office.
