FAQ: What are the main USDA farm program rules that allow a farm to qualify for prevented planted acreage? What about failed acreage? What qualifies as failed acreage?

Answer: Provided by Beth Grabau, public information and outreach specialist at the Farm Service Agency state office in Des Moines. Vickie Friedow, FSA farm program specialist at the state office, also helped answer this question.

Prevented planting is the inability to plant the intended crop acreage with proper equipment by the final planting date for the type of crop, because of a natural disaster.

If you are unable to plant crops due to a natural disaster, you should report these prevented planted acres to your local Farm Service Agency office. If you have crop insurance, talk to your crop insurance agent immediately to find out if prevented planted acres are covered under your policy and if any restrictions apply.

If a crop could not be planted because of a natural disaster, a CCC-576 form, which is a Notice of Loss, must be properly filled out and provided to your local FSA office within 15 days of the crop’s established final planting date.

Established final planting dates for Iowa in 2011 are:

CORN: May 30, 2011
SOYBEANS: June 15, 2011

Along with submitting a CCC-576, you may also need to provide copies of seed, fertilizer and chemical receipts to verify your intent to plant the acreage.

If you plant a subsequent crop on "prevented" acres, those acres are considered prevented planting. For example, if you intended to plant corn, but subsequently planted soybeans on the acres, if the prevented planted corn provisions are met, FSA will consider those acres as prevented planting.

What is FSA’s definition of "failed acreage"?

Failed acreage is acreage that was planted in a timely fashion with the intent to harvest. But because of disaster-related conditions, the crop failed before it could be brought to harvest.

Acreage reports for failed crops need to be filed with your local FSA office before you dispose of the failed crop.

For Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) crops, a CCC-576 form "Notice of Loss" must be provided the earlier of the following:

* Within 15 calendar days after the disaster occurrence or the date the damage to the specific crop acreage is apparent to the producer.

* 15 calendar days after the normal harvest date.

A producer must be able to prove to the County FSA committee’s satisfaction that:

* The crop was planted with the intent to harvest using farming practices consistent for the crop and area.

* The acreage failed because of disaster-related conditions.

If you have specific questions or need details regarding USDA farm programs, contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency office. You can also get news and information about DCP, ACRE and other USDA programs at www.fsa.usda.gov.Two Iowa State University Extension Web sites have farm program information and analysis. They are ISU's Ag Decision Maker site at www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm and ISU Extension Specialist Steve Johnson's site at www.extension.iastate.edu/polk/farmmanagement.htm.And be sure to read the regular column "Frequently Asked Questions about the Farm Program" that appears in each issue of Wallaces Farmer magazine and at www.WallacesFarmer.com