§1437.7. Application for coverage, service fee, premium, transfers of coverage, and acreage report. — Inbound Citations

(4) For mechanically harvested NAP-eligible crops, that the crop has been removed from the field and placed in a truck or other conveyance, except hay is considered harvested when in the bale, whether removed from the field or not.

Insurable crop means an agricultural crop (excluding livestock) for which the producer on a farm is eligible to obtain a policy or plan of insurance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501-1524).

Multiple market crop means a crop that is delivered to a single market but can have fresh and processed prices based on grading. For example, a producer may intend to sell all production of an apple crop as fresh production; however, based on grading of the crop at the market, the producer is compensated for some production at the fresh price and for some production at the processing price.

Multiple planting means the planting for harvest of the same crop in more than one planting period in a crop year on different acreage.

NAP means the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program under section 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333) and part 1437 of this title.

NAP-eligible crop means an agricultural crop for which the producer on a farm is eligible to obtain NAP coverage.

NAP service fee means the amount specified in § 1437.7 of this title that the producer must pay to obtain NAP coverage.

Nutrient factor means a factor determined by a test that measures the nutrient value of a crop to be fed to livestock. Examples include, but are not limited to, relative feed value and total digestible nutrients.

Production means quantity of the crop produced, which is expressed in a specific unit of measure including, but not limited to, bushels or pounds.

QLA Program means the Quality Loss Adjustment Program.

Qualifying disaster event means a hurricane, flood, tornado, typhoon, volcanic activity, snowstorm, wildfire, excessive moisture, qualifying drought, or a related condition that occurred in the 2018 or 2019 calendar year.

Qualifying drought means an area within the county was rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity during the applicable calendar year.

Quality loss means:

(2) For legal entities not required to file a Federal income tax return, or a person or legal entity that did not have taxable income in 1 or more of the tax years during the base period, the average adjusted gross farm income will be the adjusted gross farm income, including losses, averaged for the base period, as determined by FSA. For a legal entity created during the base period, the adjusted gross farm income average will include only those years of the base period for which it was in business; however, a new legal entity will not be considered “new” to the extent it takes over an existing operation and has any elements of common ownership interest and land with the preceding person or legal entity from which it took over. When there is such commonality, income of the previous person or legal entity will be averaged with that of the new legal entity for the base period. For a person filing a joint tax return, the certification of average adjusted gross farm income may be reported as if the person had filed a separate Federal tax return, and the calculation is consistent with the information supporting the filed joint return.

Average AGI means the average of the adjusted gross income as defined under 26 U.S.C. 62 or comparable measure of the person or legal entity for the base period.

Average market price means the average market price per unit of measure established by FSA according to 7 CFR 1437.12.

Base period means:

(c) If producers file an application for coverage in accordance with § 1437.7, tree acreage containing trees from which maple sap is produced or is to be produced must be reported to FSA no later than the beginning of the crop year.

(c) Producers must file an application for coverage in accordance with § 1437.7, and must:

(1) Provide a report of the crop, commodity, and facility to FSA for the acreage or facility, in a form prescribed by FSA, no later than the beginning of the crop year.

(2) Maintain a verifiable inventory of the eligible crop throughout the crop year; and

(2) The service fee or premium for the annual covered crop planted on native sod will be equal to 200 percent of the amount determined in § 1437.7, as applicable, but the premium will not exceed the maximum amount specified in § 1437.7(d)(2).

(c) For covered tropical crops, the maximum service fee per crop per county provided at § 1437.7 is required of the producer for coverage of:

(1) With respect to annual and biennial crops, all plantings of the same crop planted during the crop year, as determined by FSA.

(2) With respect to perennial crops, all acreage of the crop existing during the crop year, as determined by FSA.

(a) The coverage period is the time during which coverage is available against prevented planting, a loss of production, or loss of value, as applicable, of the eligible crop as a result of an eligible cause of loss specified in § 1437.10. Except as provided in paragraph (h) of this section, coverage periods start no earlier than 1 calendar day after date of filing of a valid application for coverage as specified in § 1437.7.

(1) If an application for coverage is filed within 30 calendar days of the end of a coverage period, the application for coverage is invalid and will not be processed by FSA. In the event the application for coverage is invalid as discussed in this paragraph, service fees will not be refunded.

(a) Producers must maintain accurate records of crop acreage, acreage yields, and production for the crop for which an application for coverage is filed in accordance with § 1437.7. For those crops or commodities for which it is impractical, as determined by FSA, to maintain crop acreage, yields, or production data, producers must maintain records, in addition to the available records required by this section, as may be required in subparts C, D, and E of this part. Producers must retain records of the production and acreage yield for a minimum of 3 years for each crop for which an application for coverage is filed in accordance with § 1437.7. Producers may be selected and be required to provide records acceptable to FSA to support any certification provided. For each harvested crop for which producers file an application for payment in accordance with § 1437.11, producers must provide documentary evidence acceptable to FSA of production and the date harvest was completed, including production of crops planted after the planting period or late planting period. Such documentary evidence must be provided no later than the acreage reporting date for the crop in the subsequent crop year or, for crops with a coverage period of more than 12 months, no later than 60 days after the normal harvest date. Records of a previous crop year's production for inclusion in the actual production history database used to calculate an approved yield for the current crop year must be certified by the producer no later than the acreage reporting date for the crop in the current crop year. Production data provided after the acreage reporting date in the current crop year for the crop may be included in the actual production history data base for the calculation of subsequent approved yield calculations if accompanied by acceptable records of production as determined by FSA. Certifications must be accompanied by a record of production; records of production acceptable to FSA may include:

(1) Commercial receipts, settlement sheets, warehouse ledger sheets, or load summaries if the eligible crop was sold or otherwise disposed of through commercial channels provided the records are reliable or verifiable as determined by FSA; and

(2) Such documentary evidence such as contemporaneous measurements, truck scale tickets, and contemporaneous diaries, as is necessary in order to verify the information provided if the eligible crop has been fed to livestock, or otherwise disposed of other than through commercial channels, provided the records are reliable or verifiable as determined by FSA.

(3) For quality losses specified in § 1437.105, verifiable records substantiating a quality loss due to an eligible cause of loss in the coverage period. The record submitted must come from tests or analysis substantiating that the loss of quality occurred from an eligible cause of loss during the coverage period. FSA will disapprove quality adjustments under § 1437.105 if FSA determines the evidence does not substantiate a loss of quality occurred due to an eligible cause of loss in the coverage period. For example, if FSA determines the tests or analysis of the specific crop's production were taken too late to determine if the measured loss of quality occurred from an eligible cause of loss in the coverage period (regardless whether a loss of quality was in fact measured or determined), no quality loss adjustment will be made or permitted. There is no presumption that a measured loss of quality occurred due to an eligible cause of loss in the coverage period. It is a NAP covered producer's burden to present evidence, satisfactory to FSA, substantiating that the alleged quality loss occurred to the NAP covered crop in the coverage period.

(2) The service fee or premium for the annual covered crop planted on native sod will be equal to 200 percent of the amount determined in § 1437.7, as applicable, but the premium will not exceed the maximum amount specified in § 1437.7(d)(2).

(h) For the 2019 and 2020 crop years only, if a crop's application closing date is before April 8, 2019, the coverage period of the crop will be as specified in paragraphs (a) through (g) of this section except that the date coverage begins will be retroactive as long as the application for coverage is filed by the application closing date as specified in § 1437.7(i). This limited retroactive coverage for the 2019 and 2020 crop years only will begin 1 calendar day after the established application closing date, which would be the same as if they had filed by the deadlines as specified in paragraphs (a) through (g) of this section.