In an effort to lessen the economic hardships farmers have faced during the last year, a new nationwide program designed to help farmers recoup crop production or crop quality losses goes into effect Monday.

The Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments program (SURE) was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Farm Service Agency (FSA) to provide crop disaster assistance payments to eligible producers.

Amy Yaklin, director of the Richmond County FSA said there are 1,200 active farms in the county, and expects a lot of interest in this program.

“This is a new program for FSA,” Yaklin said. “It is a revenue protection type program for farmers who have suffered from some crop disaster during 2008. It requires that local producers have crop insurance, or NAP coverage on all of their significant crops. Another major difference in this program from other disaster programs we have administered in the past is that we will look at a producers “whole” operation, not just what they have in Richmond County. If they own a farm in other counties or other states, information from those farming operations will also be included in the calculation of benefits.”

The program takes into consideration crop losses on all crops grown by a producer nationwide. SURE provides assistance in an amount equal to 60 percent of the difference between the SURE farm guarantee and total farm revenue. The farm guarantee is based on the amount of crop insurance and Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage on the farm.

Total farm revenue takes into account the actual value of production on the farm as well as insurance indemnities and certain farm program payments.

To be eligible for SURE, producers must have suffered at least a 10 percent production loss on their total farm revenue. In addition, producers must meet the risk management purchase requirement by either obtaining a policy or plan of insurance, under the Federal Crop Insurance Act or NAP coverage, for all economically significant crops.

“We hope to be of help to our local farmers and producers who may have suffered during the 2008 crop year and encourage the producers to visit out office,” Yaklin said. “Everyone has been under the pressure of the lows of the economy and farmers are no different. Crop losses, rising costs of labor, fuel, equipment and every day living costs have hit the agricultural communities hard. We hope that this program will help diminish some of the stress of the next year by supplying some assistance to those who qualify. Sometimes a program like this can make a difference in whether a producer can stay afloat another year.”

For 2008, producers had the opportunity to obtain a waiver of the risk management purchase requirement through a buy-in provision. Producers considered socially disadvantaged, a beginning farmer or rancher, or a limited resource farmer may be eligible for SURE without a policy or plan of insurance or NAP coverage.

In addition to meeting the risk management purchase requirement, a producer must have a farming interest physically located in a county that was declared a primary disaster county or contiguous county by the Agriculture Secretary under a Secretarial Disaster Designation. Regardless of a Secretarial Disaster Designation, individual producers may also be eligible for SURE if the actual production on the farm is less than 50 percent of the normal production on the farm, due to a natural disaster.

For SURE, a farm is defined as all crops in which a producer had an interest nationwide. For more information on the new SURE program, please visit the local FSA office by calling 895-3950 or www.fsa.usda.gov.

“I love to eat and farmers keep us fed,” Yaklin said. “So anything I can do to support a farmer is worth my time and effort.”

Staff writer Eren Tataragasi can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or at etataragasi@yourdailyjournal.com.