OXFORD – Marcia Hall, executive director of USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Oxford County, has reminded producers in need of insurance coverage for crops not covered by federal crop insurance that they can enroll in FSA’s Noninsured Crop Assistance Program.

“Crop insurance is an important risk management tool for farmers, but it’s not available for all crops. That’s why NAP is so important,” Hall said.

NAP is a federally funded program that provides coverage to producers for noninsurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting occurs due to natural disasters.

Crops eligible for NAP coverage are those for which crop insurance is not available, including fruits and vegetables, aquaculture, pecans, turf grass and forage crops, to name a few.

“Producers must apply for coverage before a disa0ster strikes,” Hall said. “Like regular crop insurance, once an application period closes, the opportunity to obtain coverage is gone.”

NAP coverage requires a service fee of $100 per crop, per producer with a $300 cap per county. Out-of-pocket expenses will not exceed $900 for any producer, even if production occurs in more than three counties. Service fees may be waived for eligible limited resource producers.

NAP applications for coverage must be filed and service fees paid, by the applicable closing date. Application closing dates vary by crop. Oxford County producers may contact the FSA Office for specific crop application sales closing dates at: (207) 743-5789.

More information on NAP and additional disaster assistance programs is available online at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/.