2009 Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments program application period begins Jan. 10, 2011

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Montana State Executive Director Bruce Nelson of Montana announced that the sign-up period for the 2009 crop year Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) program begins on Jan. 10, 2011. SURE is one of five disaster programs included in the 2008 Farm Bill that provides assistance to farmers and ranchers who have suffered losses due to natural disasters.

“This program provides a tremendous amount of assistance to producers who have suffered from natural disasters, and is part of the ‘safety net’ designed to assist farmers and ranchers who feed Montana, America and the world,” Nelson said. “USDA encourages producers who suffered losses during the 2009 crop year to visit their local FSA office to learn more about the SURE program.”

To be eligible for SURE a farm must have: at least a 10 percent production loss on a crop of economic significance; a policy or plan of insurance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for all economically significant crops; been physically located in a county that was declared a primary disaster county or contiguous county by the Agriculture Secretary under a Secretarial Disaster Designation.

Without a Secretarial Disaster Designation, individual producers may be eligible if the actual production on the farm is less than 50 percent of the normal production on the farm due to a natural disaster. 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.

For more information on the 2009 SURE program, visit any FSA county office or http://www.fsa.usda.gov/sure.