Signup Begins Sept. 11 for More Than $3
Billion in Aid
WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 9, 2019 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today
announced that agricultural producers affected by natural disasters in 2018 and
2019, including Hurricane Dorian, can apply for assistance through the Wildfire
and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+). Signup for this U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) program will begin Sept. 11, 2019.
“U.S. agriculture has been dealt a hefty blow by extreme weather
over the last several years, and 2019 is no exception,” said U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “The scope of this year’s prevented planting alone is
devastating, and although these disaster program benefits will not make
producers whole, we hope the assistance will ease some of the financial strain
farmers, ranchers and their families are experiencing. President Trump has the
backs of our farmers, and we are working to support America’s great patriot
farmers.”
More than $3 billion is available through the disaster relief
package passed by Congress and signed by President Trump in early June. WHIP+
builds on the successes of its predecessor program the 2017 Wildfire and
Hurricane Indemnity Program (2017 WHIP) that was authorized by the Bipartisan
Budget Act of 2018. In addition, the relief package included new programs
to cover losses for milk dumped or removed from the commercial market and
losses of eligible farm stored commodities due to eligible disaster events in
2018 and 2019. Also, prevented planting supplemental disaster payments will
provide support to producers who were prevented from planting eligible crops
for the 2019 crop year.
Eligibility
WHIP+ will be available for eligible producers who have suffered
eligible losses of certain crops, trees, bushes or vines in counties with a
Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration or a Secretarial Disaster
Designation (primary counties only). Disaster losses must have been a result of
hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, typhoons, volcanic activity, snowstorms or
wildfires that occurred in 2018 or 2019. Also, producers in counties that did
not received a disaster declaration or designation may still apply for WHIP+ but
must provide supporting documentation to establish that the crops were directly
affected by a qualifying disaster loss.
A list of counties that received qualifying disaster
declarations and designations is available at farmers.gov/recover/whip-plus. Because
grazing and livestock losses, other than milk losses, are covered by other
disaster recovery programs offered through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA),
those losses are not eligible for WHIP+.
General Eligibility and Payment Limitations
WHIP+ is only designed to provide assistance for production
losses, however, if quality was taken into consideration under federal crop
insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy,
where production was further adjusted, the adjusted production will be used in
calculating assistance under this program.
Eligible crops include those for which federal crop insurance or
NAP coverage is available, excluding crops intended for grazing. A list of
crops covered by crop insurance is available through USDA’s Risk Management
Agency (RMA) Actuarial Information Browser at webapp.rma.usda.gov/apps/actuarialinformationbrowser.
Eligibility will be determined for each producer based on the
size of the loss and the level of insurance coverage elected by the producer. A
WHIP+ factor will be determined for each crop based on a producer’s coverage
level. Producers who elected higher coverage levels will receive a higher WHIP+
factor.
The WHIP+ payment factor ranges from 75 percent to 95 percent,
depending on the level of crop insurance coverage or NAP coverage that a
producer obtained for the crop. Producers who did not insure their crops in
2018 or 2019 will receive 70 percent of the expected value of the crop. Insured
crops (either crop insurance or NAP coverage) will receive between 75 percent
and 95 percent of expected value; those who purchased the highest levels of
coverage will receive 95-percent of the expected value.
Once signup begins, a producer will be asked to provide
verifiable and reliable production records. If a producer is unable to provide
production records, WHIP+ payments will be determined based on the lower of
either the actual loss certified by the producer and determined acceptable by
FSA or the county expected yield and county disaster yield. The county disaster
yield is the production that a producer would have been expected to make based
on the eligible disaster conditions in the county.
WHIP+ payments for 2018 disasters will be eligible for 100
percent of their calculated value. WHIP+ payments for 2019 disasters will be
limited to an initial 50 percent of their calculated value, with an opportunity
to receive up to the remaining 50 percent after January 1, 2020, if sufficient
funding remains.
WHIP+ benefits will be subject to a payment limitation of either
$125,000 or $250,000 per crop year, depending upon their verified average
adjusted gross income. As under 2017 WHIP, the payment limitation for WHIP+
factors in the person’s or legal entity’s income from activities related to
farming, ranching, or forestry. Specifically, a person or legal entity,
other than a joint venture or general partnership, cannot receive more than $125,000
in payments under WHIP+, if their average adjusted gross farm income is less
than 75 percent of their average adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2015, 2016,
and 2017. The $125,000 payment limitation is single total combined
limitation for payments for the 2018, 2019, and 2020 crop years. However,
if at least 75 percent of the person or legal entity’s average AGI is derived
from farming, ranching, or forestry related activities and the participant
provides the required certification and documentation, the person or legal
entity, other than a joint venture or general partnership, is eligible to
receive, directly or indirectly, up to $250,000 per crop year in WHIP+
payments, with a total combined limitation for payments for the 2018, 2019, and
2020 crop years of $500,000. The relevant tax years for establishing a
producer’s AGI and percentage derived from farming, ranching, or forestry
related activities for WHIP+ are 2015, 2016, and 2017. For information
regarding the payment limitation that applies to WHIP+, please contact your
local USDA service center or visit farmers.gov/recover.
Future Insurance Coverage Requirements
Both insured and uninsured producers are eligible to apply for
WHIP+. But all producers receiving WHIP+ payments will be required to purchase
crop insurance or NAP, at the 60 percent coverage level or higher, for the next
two available, consecutive crop years after the crop year for which WHIP+
payments were paid. Producers who fail to purchase crop insurance for the next
two applicable, consecutive years will be required to pay back the WHIP+
payment.
Additional Loss Coverage
The Milk Loss Program will provide payments to eligible dairy
operations for milk that was dumped or removed without compensation from the
commercial milk market because of a qualifying 2018 and 2019 natural disaster.
Producers who suffered losses of harvested commodities, including hay, stored
in on-farm structures in 2018 and 2019 will receive assistance through the
On-Farm Storage Loss Program.
Additionally, the disaster relief measure expanded coverage of
the 2017 WHIP to include losses from Tropical Storm Cindy, and peach and
blueberry crop losses that resulted from extreme cold.
Enhanced Assistance Through Tree Assistance Program (TAP)
TAP traditionally provides cost-share for replanting and
rehabilitating eligible trees. WHIP+ will provide payments based on the loss of
value of the tree, bush or vine itself. Therefore, eligible producers may
receive both a TAP and a 2017 WHIP or WHIP+ payment for the same acreage.
In addition, TAP policy has been updated to assist eligible
orchardists or nursery tree growers of pecan trees with a tree mortality rate
that exceeds 7.5 percent (adjusted for normal mortality) but is less than 15
percent (adjusted for normal mortality) for losses incurred during 2018.
Prevented Planting
Agricultural producers faced significant challenges planting
crops in 2019 in many parts of the country. All producers with flooding or
excess moisture-related prevented planting insurance claims in calendar year
2019 will receive a prevented planting supplemental disaster (“bonus”) payment
equal to 10 percent of their prevented planting indemnity, plus an additional 5
percent will be provided to those who purchased harvest price option coverage.
As under 2017 WHIP, WHIP+ will provide prevented planting
assistance to uninsured producers, NAP producers and producers who may have
been prevented from planting an insured crop in the 2018 crop year and those
2019 crops that had a final planting date prior to January 1, 2019.
Other USDA Disaster Recovery Assistance
When major disasters strike, USDA has an emergency loan program that
provides eligible farmers low-interest loans to help them recover from
production and physical losses.
USDA also provides financial resources through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program for
immediate needs and long-term support to help recover from natural disasters
and conserve water resources. Additionally, the Emergency Watershed Protection Program helps
local communities immediately begin relieving imminent hazards to life and
property caused by floods. In addition, the Emergency
Conservation Program provides funding and technical assistance
for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters
and help put in place methods for water conservation during severe
drought.