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Sept. 16 last day for crop insurance sign-upKansas Sept. 16 is the deadline for farmers to sign up for 2008 uninsured crops to maintain insurance coverage under the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments program and Art Barnaby wants to make sure it doesn't slip under producers' radar. "In Kansas, crops are not crops until they are in the bin," said the Kansas State University agricultural economist. "Therefore, for growers with 2008 wheat losses or if they expect to have a large number of fall harvested crop acres, the best suggestion is to pay the $100 NAP fees on pasture and other uninsured crops." NAP refers to the federal non-insured crop disaster assistance program. Barnaby, who is a risk management specialist with K-State Research and Extension, said farmers should check with their U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency office to make sure all of their crops are covered with either crop insurance, NAP or Catastrophic Risk Protection, also called CAT. "There is a real lack of information for farmers trying to make informed decisions before paying 2008 NAP and CAT fees to be eligible for SURE payments on 2008 crop losses," he said. "It is important that producers have all fees paid to maintain eligibility for SURE coverage on their fall 2008 crops. Clearly, there are still weather perils that could destroy fall harvested crops and the SURE payment would be helpful. Barnaby said he is telling producers that saving a couple of hundred dollars is not worth the risk: "That is about two tanks of gas for your pickup," he said of the premiums to ensure the coverage. Another confusing part of the current crop insurance system is that ACRE is not available until 2009, but SURE, which could be viewed as free disaster aid, covers 2008 crops and 2009-2012, Barnaby said. Another difficulty the lack of information on these programs is causing is for farmers who are making winter wheat insurance decisions. "Because there are so many unknowns and one will likely not have answers before the Sept. 30 (wheat) sign-up deadline, the best suggestion I have is to buy the level and type of crop insurance you planned to buy on wheat without considering SURE," he said. More information on these and other risk management topics are available on the K-State Agricultural Economics website: http://www.agmanager.info. 9/8/08 Date: 9/4/08
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