Sep
Risk Management Programs for Aquaculture
The deadline to purchase a NAP policy for your 2022 crop is Sept. 30, 2021! NAP can provide shellfish growers with catastrophic coverage for losses due to natural disasters to shellfish growers. NAP is sold and serviced by your local USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). The basic catastrophic policy(CAT) provides coverage at 50 percent of the value of your inventory at 55 percent of the FSA established price. NAP is very affordable at $325 administrative fee for a CAT policy and FSA will waive this fee for beginning, veteran, historically underserved and limited resource farmers. Growers can purchase additional coverage at 50 percent, 55 percent, 60 percent and 65 percent protection at 100 percent of the FSA established price.
Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP)
Due to the effort of East Coast Shellfish Growers Assoc. and the state aquaculture associations, shellfish have been added a long standing program that livestock producers across America have used for years. This change has added a valuable tool for growers to use when they have sustained losses to a variety natural disasters. Unlike NAP, growers do not need to enroll prior to a disaster however, ELAP only covers a narrow variety of natural disasters such as excessive heat, wind, hurricanes, freeze, and other adverse events as approved by your local County FSA Committee. Growers must have reliable or verifiable records to establish their pre disaster and post disaster inventories. These inventories will be used to adjust your loss. Growers are required to file an acreage report on the area of your grant site and complete the producer eligibility paperwork to participate in USDA Farm Programs.
Remember: It is each producer’s responsibility to develop a risk management plan for their farm that will provide adequate protection if a disaster occurs…and to live with the consequences.
This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2018-70027-28588. UMass Extension works in partnership with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Northeast Extension Risk Management Education Center to educate Massachusetts producers about Federal Crop Insurance and USDA Disaster Assistance Programs. For more information, please contact UMass Risk
Management Specialists Paul Russell at [email protected] or Tom Smiarowski at [email protected]