Local leaders of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) — a little-known and little-used safety net insurance program for farmers and ranchers — is accepting applications through next month. The program offers Hawai‘i farmers a
Local leaders of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) — a little-known and little-used safety net insurance program for farmers and ranchers — is accepting applications through next month.
The program offers Hawai‘i farmers a chance to get a return of 55 cents on the dollar for half their crop’s value should a natural disaster strike, such as a hurricane, pest infestation, and rainy or windy weather.
“This is a safety-net program for producers who do not have coverage under private carriers,” said Robert Ishikawa, executive director of the Kaua‘i branch of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The program costs $100 per crop, or a maximum of $300 per farmer. What you get in exchange is year ‘round peace of mind that, should disaster strike, you’ll at least get something back. “Right now, we’re paying out on the strong winds that damaged crops back in January,” Ishikawa said.
Only farmers of large, subsidized crops, or what Ishikawa calls “crops with economic significance,” can get private disaster insurance. In Hawai‘i, only farmers of macadamia nuts and trees, and some nursery crops, can get private insurance. Not even coffee is covered. That means that papaya, banana, guava and taro farmers are simply out of luck — unless they participate in the NAP. But only a few do. In fact, only about 20 of Kaua‘i’s 100 eligible farmers participate in the program, Ishikawa said, partly because they don’t know about it, and partly because the initial setup can be tedious.
“Every crop has its own reporting requirements,” Ishikawa said. “But once the program is set up, it’s easy.” Volume requirements, crop-production histories, relative values, harvest frequencies — all these determine a farmer’s eligibility and payout, he explained.
The USDA’s Farm Service Agency offers crop-disaster programs and farm loans, along with the NAP. See their Web site at www.fsa.usda.gov or call Kaua‘i’s Farm Service Agency office at 245-9014. Eligible NAP commodities include:
- Crops grown for food;
- Crops planted and grown for livestock consumption, including, but not limited to, grain and forage crops, including native forage;
- Crops grown for fiber, such as cotton and flax;
- Crops grown under controlled environments, such as mushrooms and floriculture.
- Specialty crops, such as honey and maple sap;
- Value-loss crops, such as aquaculture, Christmas trees, ginseng, ornamental nursery, and turfgrass sold;
- Sea oats and sea grass;
- Seed crops where the propagation stock is produced for sale as a seed stock for other eligible NAP crop production.
