Sign-up deadline nears for new disaster program

Sign-up for the SURE, the new USDA disaster program, is underway, and the deadline to participate in this year's program is Sept. 15.

SURE is a permanent disaster program that will be specific to each farmer. Unlike previous USDA disaster programs, this one does not require an Act of Congress for it take place.

The SURE program is more complicated than previous disaster programs, and it might leave some farmers unsure about what to do.

"You have to insure everything that generates revenue for your farming practice," Plymouth County Farm Service Agency Director Jeff Davis said.

If you harvest alfalfa, it will have to be insured. If you bale up your waterway and you want to participate in SURE, the waterway has to be insured. And if you graze cattle in your pasture, you will have to have map coverage of the pasture so it can be insured.

Setting a value on pastureland is one of many confusing aspects of the SURE program.

"How do you put a value on pasture? It's being grazed and usually not fertilized, it's just there," Davis asked.

Producers who want to participate in the SURE program don't have a choice about insuring their waterways and pastures.

"If you do not insure one revenue-generating thing, say grass, but you bale it up anyway, you don't qualify for disaster," Davis said.

NAP (Noninsured Crop Assistance Program) insurance for a waterway will cost $100. Davis said the cost this year is $100 per crop per county with producers having to pay no more than $300 per county even if they have more than three crops. Producers who farm in three or more different counties will pay a maximum of $900.

There is a late buy-in program this year that allows producers to purchase NAP coverage items that aren't presently insured. But it must be done by the Sept. 16 deadline.

The problem with that scenario, Davis said, is that Northwest Iowa probably won't need disaster insurance this year. But, he added, things could change overnight.

"It's not for me to decide what people want to do," he said.

Once producers decide what to do about disaster insurance for the current crop year, they can begin pondering about 2009 insurance coverage. Next year's SURE premiums will increase. One crop will cost $250 with a county maximum of $750. Producers who farm in three or more counties will pay no more than $1,825. Only NAP will be available through the FSA office, and CAT insurance will have to be purchased through a regular crop insurance agent, Davis said.

The decision of whether to insure alfalfa for 2009 must be made by December of this year. Davis said the deadline had been early October before it was extended.

Catastrophic insurance for 2008 is available for alfalfa beyond the seedling year up through the sixth year. Alfalfa fields that are older than six years can be insured with NAP.

It's a tough decision for farmers to make, Davis said, when they don't know how well their alfalfa will winter.

The rest of the farm bill for this year remains the same. The 2005, 2006 and 2007 disaster program is still available for this year, Davis said, but acres must be certified by Aug. 15.

Next year will bring more changes, Davis said. That is when the ACRE program begins.

ACRE is an acronym for Average Crop Revenue Election. Its enrollment will be optional, and Davis said it promises to be complicated. Producers will have to decide on which program to use for each farm. Once the farms are enrolled in ACRE it will remain in the ACRE program until the end of the farm bill, which is 2012. Davis said a computerized spreadsheet might be developed to help producers make those decisions.

The order of business for now is for producers to decide whether they want to participate in the SURE program and insure their hay fields and pastures.

"They have to make that decision by Sept. 16," Davis stressed. "If something happens a week later and they haven't signed up, they will not qualify for disaster."