Overview

The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) 

administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm 

Service Agency (FSA), provides financial assistance to producers of 

non-insurable crops to protect against natural disasters that result in 

lower yields or crop losses, or prevents crop planting.

Who Is Eligible?

Eligible Producers

An eligible producer is a landowner, tenant or sharecropper who 

shares in the risk of producing an eligible crop and is entitled to 

an ownership share of that crop. An individual’s or entity’s average 

adjusted gross income (AGI) cannot exceed $900,000 to be eligible 

for NAP payments. Also, NAP payments received, directly or 

indirectly, will be attributed to the applicable individual or entity and 

limited to $125,000 per crop year, per individual or entity for crops 

with basic (catastrophic) coverage. Any NAP payments received 

directly or indirectly for crops with additional (buy-up) coverage, will 

be attributed to the applicable individual or entity and limited to 

$300,000 per crop year, per individual or entity. (To learn more, visit 

fsa.usda.gov/limits.)

Eligible Crops

Eligible crops must be commercially produced agricultural 

commodities for which crop insurance is not available and be any of 

the following:

• Crops grown for food;

• Crops planted and grown for livestock consumption, such as 

grain and forage crops, including native forage; Crops grown for 

fiber, such as cotton and flax (except trees);

• Crops grown in a controlled environment, such as mushrooms 

and floriculture;

• Specialty crops, such as honey and maple sap;

• Sea oats and sea grass;

• Sweet sorghum and biomass sorghum;

• Industrial crops, including crops used in manufacturing or grown 

as a feedstock for renewable biofuel, renewable electricity or 

biobased products;

• Value loss crops, such as aquaculture, Christmas trees, ginseng, 

ornamental nursery and turf-grass sod; and

• Seed crops where the propagation stock is produced for sale as 

seed stock for other eligible NAP crop production.

Producers should contact a crop insurance 

agent for questions regarding insurability 

of a crop in their county. For further 

information on whether a crop is eligible 

for NAP coverage, producers should contact 

the FSA county office where their farm 

records are maintained.

What Is Eligible?

Eligible Causes of Loss

Eligible causes of loss include the following 

natural disasters:

• Damaging weather, such as drought, 

freeze, hail, excessive moisture, 

excessive wind or hurricanes;

• Adverse natural occurrences, such as 

earthquake or flood; and

• Conditions related to damaging weather 

or adverse natural occurrences, such as 

excessive heat, plant disease, volcanic 

smog (VOG) or insect infestation.

The damaging weather or adverse natural 

occurrence must occur during the coverage 

period, before or during harvest, and must 

directly affect the eligible crop.

Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program

DISASTER ASSISTANCE

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How It Works

Coverage Levels

NAP provides basic coverage equivalent to the 

catastrophic level risk protection plan of insurance 

coverage, which is based on the amount of loss that 

exceeds 50 percent of expected production at 55 

percent of the average market price for the crop.

The 2018 Farm Bill re-authorizes higher levels of 

coverage ranging from 50 to 65 percent of production, 

in 5 percent increments, at 100 percent of the average 

market price. Additional (buy-up) coverage must be 

elected by a producer by the application closing date. 

Producers who elect additional coverage must pay a 

premium in addition to the service fee. Crops intended 

for grazing are not eligible for additional coverage.

Applying for Coverage

Eligible producers can apply for coverage using form 

CCC-471, “Application for Coverage,” and pay the 

applicable service fee at the FSA office where their farm 

records are maintained. Underserved producers will be 

eligible for basic NAP coverage anytime a valid CCC860 certification is completed. The CCC-860 form will 

serve as the NAP application for coverage. If a producer 

chooses not to participate in NAP, they must opt out on 

the CCC-860 form.

The application and any applicable service fee must be 

filed by the application closing date. Application closing 

dates vary by crop and are established by the FSA 

State Committee. Contact your local FSA office to verify 

application closing dates.

Producers who apply for NAP coverage acknowledge that 

they have received the NAP Basic Provisions, available at 

FSA county offices and at fsa.usda.gov/nap.

Service Fees and Premiums

For all coverage levels, the NAP service fee is the 

lesser of $325 per crop or $825 per producer per 

administrative county, not to exceed a total of $1,950 

for a producer with farming interests in multiple 

counties. 

Producers who elect higher levels of coverage must also 

pay a premium equal to:

• The producer’s share of the crop; times

• The number of eligible acres devoted to the crop; 

times

• The approved yield per acre; times

• The coverage level; times

• The average market price; times

• A 5.25 percent premium fee.

For value loss crops, premiums will be calculated using 

the maximum dollar value selected by the producer on 

form CCC-471, “Application for Coverage.”

The maximum premium for a person or legal entity that 

is a NAP covered producer is $15,750 (the maximum 

payment limitation times a 5.25 percent premium fee) 

for an application for basic coverage only. If the NAP 

covered producer is a joint operation, the maximum 

premium is based on the number of multiple persons 

or legal entities comprising the joint operation.

Beginning, limited resource, socially disadvantaged and 

qualifying veterans farmers or ranchers are eligible for 

a waiver of the service fee and a 50 percent premium 

reduction when they file form CCC-860, “Socially 

Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Veteran, or Beginning 

Farmer or Rancher Certification.” To be eligible for 

a service fee waiver or premium reduction, the NAP 

covered producer must qualify as one of the following:

Beginning farmer or rancher – a person or legal 

entity who:

• Has not operated a farm or ranch for more than 10 

years; and

• Materially and substantially participates in the 

operation.

For legal entities to be considered a beginning farmer, 

all members must be related by blood or marriage and 

must be beginning farmers.

Limited resource farmer or rancher – a person or 

legal entity that:

• Earns no more than $177,300 in each of the two 

calendar years that precede the complete taxable 

year before the program year, to be adjusted 

upwards in later years for inflation; and

• Has a total household income at or below the 

national poverty level for a family of four, or less 

than 50 percent of county median household 

income for both of the previous two years.

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Limited resource producer status may be determined 

using the USDA Limited Resource Farmer and Rancher 

Online Self Determination Tool. The automated 

system calculates and displays adjusted gross farm 

sales per year and the higher of the national poverty 

level or county median household income.

For legal entities requesting to be considered Limited 

Resource Farmer or Rancher, the sum of gross sales 

and household income must be considered for all 

members.

Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher – a farmer 

or a rancher who is a member of a group whose 

members have been subject to racial, ethnic or gender 

prejudice because of their identity as members of 

a group without regard to their individual qualities. 

Groups include:

• American Indians or Alaskan Natives;

• Asians or Asian Americans;

• Blacks or African Americans;

• Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders;

• Hispanics; and

• Women.

For legal entities to be considered socially 

disadvantaged, the majority interest must be held by 

socially disadvantaged individuals.

Veteran farmer or rancher – a farmer or rancher who 

has served in the Armed Forces (as defined in 38 U.S.C. 

101) and who:

• has operated a farm or ranch for less than 

10 years, or

• first obtained status as a veteran during the most 

recent 10-year period.

Coverage Period

The coverage period for NAP varies depending on the 

crop. The coverage period for an annual crop begins 

the later of:

• The date after the application for coverage is filed 

and the applicable service fees have been paid; or

• The date the crop is planted (cannot exceed the 

final planting date).

The coverage period for an annual crop ends the earlier 

of the:

• Date the crop harvest is completed;

• Normal harvest date for the crop;

• Date the crop is abandoned; or

• Date the entire crop acreage is destroyed.

The coverage period for a perennial crop, other than 

a crop intended for forage, begins no later than 30 

calendar days after the application closing date and 

ends the earlier of:

• 10 months from the application closing date;

• The date the crop harvest is completed;

• The normal harvest date for the crop;

• The date the crop is abandoned; or

• The date the entire crop acreage is destroyed.

Contact a local FSA office for information on the 

coverage periods for perennial forage crops, controlledenvironment crops, specialty crops and value loss 

crops.

Information Required to Remain Eligible for NAP

To be eligible for NAP assistance, the following crop 

acreage information must be reported:

• Name of the crop (lettuce, clover, etc.);

• Type and variety (head lettuce, red clover, etc.);

• Location and acreage of the crop (field, sub-field, etc.);

• Share of the crop and the names of other producers 

with an interest in the crop;

Type of practice used to grow the crop (irrigated or 

non-irrigated);

• Date the crop was planted in each field; and

• Intended use of the commodity (fresh, 

processed, etc.).

Producers must report crop acreage shortly after 

planting (early in the risk period) to ensure reporting 

deadlines are not missed and coverage is not lost.

In addition, producers with NAP coverage must provide 

the following production information:

• The quantity of all harvested production of the crop 

in which the producer held an interest during the 

crop year;

• The disposition of the harvested crop, such as 

whether it is marketable, unmarketable, salvaged or 

used differently than intended; and

• Verifiable or reliable crop production records (when 

required by FSA).

When those records are required, producers 

must provide them in a manner that can be easily 

understood by the FSA county committee. Producers 

should contact the FSA office where their farm records 

are maintained for questions regarding acceptable 

production records.

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Failure to report acreage and production information 

for NAP-covered crops may result in reduced or zero 

NAP assistance. Be aware that acreage reporting and 

final planting dates vary by crop and by region.

Producers should contact the FSA office where their 

farm records are maintained for questions regarding 

local acreage reporting and final planting dates.

For aquaculture, floriculture and ornamental nursery 

operations, producers must maintain records according 

to industry standards, including daily crop inventories. 

Unique reporting requirements apply to beekeepers 

and producers of Christmas trees, turf-grass sod, maple 

sap, mushrooms, ginseng and commercial seed or 

forage crops. Producers should contact the FSA office 

where their farm records are maintained regarding 

these requirements.

Reported Acreage and Production

FSA uses acreage reports to record the location and 

number of acres covered by the application. Acreage 

and the production reports are used to calculate the 

approved yield (expected production for a crop year). 

The approved yield is an average of a producer’s 

actual production history (APH) for a minimum of 4 to 

a maximum of 10 crop years (5 years for apples and 

peaches). To calculate APH, FSA divides a producer’s 

total production by the producer’s crop acreage.

A producer’s approved yield may be calculated using 

substantially reduced yield data if the producer does 

not report production for a crop with NAP coverage, or 

reports fewer than 4 years of crop production.

Providing Notice of Loss and Applying 

for Payment

When a crop or planting is affected by a natural 

disaster, producers with NAP coverage must notify the 

FSA office where their farm records are maintained and 

complete Part B (the Notice of Loss portion) of form 

CCC-576, “Notice of Loss and Application for Payment.” 

This must be completed within 15 calendar days of the 

earlier of:

• A natural disaster occurrence;

• The final planting date if planting is prevented by a 

natural disaster;

• The date that damage to the crop or loss of 

production becomes apparent; or

• The normal harvest date.

Producers of hand-harvested crops and certain 

perishable crops must notify FSA within 72 hours 

of when a loss becomes apparent. The crops subject 

to this requirement will be listed in the NAP Basic 

Provisions.

To receive NAP benefits, producers must complete 

form CCC-576, “Notice of Loss and Application for 

Payment,” Parts D, E, F and G, as applicable, within 60 

days of the last day of coverage for the crop year for 

any NAP covered crop in the unit. The CCC-576 requires 

acceptable appraisal information. 

Producers must provide evidence of production and 

note whether the crop was marketable, unmarketable, 

salvaged or used differently than intended.

Defining a NAP Unit

The NAP unit includes all the eligible crop acreage in the 

county where the producer has a unique crop interest. 

A unique crop interest is either:

• 100 percent interest; or

• A shared interest with another producer.

Information FSA Uses to Calculate Payment

The NAP payment is calculated by unit using:

• Crop acreage;

• Approved yield;

• Net production;

• Coverage level elected by the producer;

• An average market price for the commodity 

established by the FSA state committee; and

• A payment factor reflecting the decreased cost 

incurred in the production cycle for a crop that is 

not harvested or prevented from being planted.

For value loss crops with additional coverage, payments 

will be calculated using the lesser of the field market 

value of the crop before the disaster or the maximum 

dollar value for which the producer requested coverage 

at the time of application.

For More Information

This fact sheet is for informational purposes only; other 

eligibility requirements or restrictions may apply. To 

find more information about FSA disaster assistance 

programs, visit farmers.gov or contact your local FSA 

office. To find your local FSA office, visit farmers.gov/

service-center-locator.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

FACTSHEET • JANUARY 2023