News

Prevent plant is a possibility again

By Scott Wagar

05/27/2014

With wet, cold weather plaguing agricultural producers’ fields for the past couple of years, farmers for this upcoming season might be left with no other alternative but to apply for the prevent plant program.

In last year’s farming season, with its inclement weather, Bottineau County ranked as one the top counties in the state when it came to prevent planting. With the weather pattern staying the same from last season, and forecasters predicting similar weather for this summer, prevent plant might be the only option for a number of ag producers.

President Barack Obama signed the new farm bill into law last fall, but regulations for the program have changed from previous seasons with Obama’s signature.

“For a grower to be eligible for preventive plant, the parcel must be planted, insured and harvested at least one year in the last four years. If a grower has received new ground, growers may need to get proof from the previous renter or owner to prove that it was insured,” said Jared Nelson, NDSU extension agent for Bottineau County.

“Growers also have until the end of the planting period to file for prevent plant and must inform their insurance agent within 72 hours after they decide not to plant so that a claim can be turned in. The final planting dates for corn is May 25, wheat, barley and sunflowers are June 5, and soybeans and flax are June 10.”

Nelson stated that in prevent plant, there has to be 2o acres or 20 percent of the acres in a unit to be eligible for the program.

When it comes between optional and enterprise units, there are significant difference in eligibility for these two entities.

“Optional units would mean that only the section would be able to qualify for acreage of prevent plant. You would be unable to combine two or more sections together to get the insurance,” Nelson said.

“Enterprise units would be typically talking about all the insurable acreage that a farmer has, not just one section. Say a farmer has a section by Westhope and a section by Newburg, both those fields could be combined under the enterprise units toward obtaining your crop insurance for prevent plant.

“If a grower is on optional units that typically means per section that is needed to reach 20 acres or 20 percent,” Nelson added. “If a grower is on enterprise units, they must have 20 acres or more total in all of their sections to qualify. If a grower is on enterprise units, and only plants in one section, they will not get the enterprise subsidy (lower rate). They will be charged at the optional unit rate because they do not have the crop planted in at least two sections. 

“The second section has to be at least 20 percent of the first section or 20 acres whichever is less,” he stated.

Nelson said that if ag producers have to replant, they have to gain permission from their crop insurance company before they can do so.

“Even if they are just inter-seeding if they want a replant payment, the same 20/20 rule as for prevent plant applies,” Nelson said.

For now, Chaos Theory has the upper hand when it comes to producers’ future in the fields this spring because they cannot predict what Mother Nature will do in the next few weeks and months. Hopefully, the sun and warm temperatures will play the upper hand so producers will not have to be concerned with the prevent program as they did last year.