Agricultural and Food Policy
 Agri Outlook Radio
Number 197
Policy/Farm Act: Part 1 of 8 - 2008 Farm Bill’s Five New Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance Programs (2:46 minutes)
Audio/Video Script:
Robert Coats, Ph.D.
Extension Economist and Professor
University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture
The 2008 farm bill’s five new Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance
Programs.
The new Farm Bill authorizes a permanent agricultural disaster trust fund to
replace the sometimes needed Congressional ad-hoc emergency disaster payments to crop
and livestock growers. The ad-hoc payments provided producers some supplemental
income following a natural disaster.
This permanent agricultural disaster trust fund will attempt to replace the
Congressional ad-hoc emergency disaster payments and fund a series of
five new disaster programs created to provide payments to crop and livestock
growers experiencing significant production losses in a USDA-declared disaster
area.
The five new disaster programs are collectively referred to as Supplemental
Agriculture Disaster Assistance programs. The five new programs are:
- Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and
Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP)
- Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP)
- Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP)
- Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program or the (SURE)
program
- Tree Assistance Program (TAP)
To be eligible for benefits, four of these programs, require producers to meet the Risk Management
Purchase Requirement which requires producers to purchase and or buy-into the
Federal Crop Insurance at least the catastrophic risk protection (CAT) level of
crop insurance for all insurable crops or Noninsured Disaster Assistance (NAP)
Program coverage for non-insurable crops.
For the 2008 crop year only, producers who were eligible to obtain at least
catastrophic risk protection (CAT) level crop insurance or Noninsured Disaster
Assistance (NAP) Program, but did not, can "buy-in" to be eligible to
participate in the applicable Supplemental Agriculture Disaster Assistance
programs by paying the administrative fee that would have been applicable if the
producer had timely applied for catastrophic risk protection (CAT) or Noninsured
Disaster Assistance (NAP) Program.
This has been Robert Coats Extension Economist University of Arkansas
Division of Agriculture.
Sources:
Farm Service Agency Factsheet: 2008 Crop Year Buy-in
Fee for Disaster Assistance Programs
Arkansas Farm Service Agency Newsletter: Supplemental
Agricultural Disaster Assistance Programs
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