17. Prevented Planting.
(a) Unless limited by the policy provisions, a prevented planting payment may be made to you for eligible acreage if:
(1) You were prevented from planting the insured crop (Failure to plant when other producers in the area were planting will result in the denial of the prevented planting claim) by an insured cause that occurs:
(i) On or after the sales closing date contained in the Special Provisions for the insured crop in the county for the crop year the application for insurance is accepted; or
(ii) For any subsequent crop year, on or after the sales closing date for the previous crop year for the insured crop in the county, provided insurance has been in force continuously since that date. Cancellation for the purpose of transferring the policy to a different insurance provider for the subsequent crop year will not be considered a break in continuity for the purpose of the preceding sentence;
(2) You include any acreage of the insured crop that was prevented from being planted on your acreage report; and
(3) You did not plant the insured crop during or after the late planting period. If such acreage was planted to the insured crop during or after the late planting period, it is covered under the late planting provisions.
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(f) Regardless of the number of eligible acres determined in section 17(e), prevented planting coverage will not be provided for any acreage:
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(5) On which the insured crop is prevented from being planted, if:
(i) Any crop is planted within or prior to the late planting period or on or prior to the final planting date if no late planting period is applicable, unless:
(A) You meet the double cropping requirements in section 17(f)(4);
(B) The crop planted was a cover crop; or
(C) No benefit, including any benefit under any USDA program, was derived from the crop; or
(ii) Any volunteer or cover crop is hayed, grazed or otherwise harvested within or prior to the late planting period or on or prior to the final planting date if no late planting period is applicable;
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The requestors state that identical or nearly identical language is set forth in the Revenue Assurance (RA) insurance policy. Accordingly, they request this Final Agency Determination explicitly be made applicable to the RA policy as well.
Interpretation Submitted
The requestor states the following as their interpretation of section 17(f)(5):
a. That a wildlife food plot containing a mixture of crops, including a crop for which prevented planting was taken, can be a cover crop as defined in the regulations.
b. That a wildlife food plot as described in subparagraph (a) is not interplanted acreage as defined in the regulations even if one of the crops in the mixture is the crop on which prevented planting was taken for the acreage on which the wildlife food plant was planted.
c. That a wildlife food plot as described in subparagraph (a), which is planted on prevented planting acres within the late planting period cannot be considered an insured crop under the late planting provisions on the basis that it contains, in part, the crop for which prevented planting was taken, and then disqualified for coverage because it meets the definition of interplanted acreage.
d. That a wildlife food plot as described in subparagraph (a) that is planted on prevented planting acreage within or prior to the late planting period or on or prior to the final planting date if no late planting period is applicable would not disqualify the acreage for prevented planting coverage so long as it was:
1. Planted as a cover crop and it was not hayed, grazed, or otherwise harvested; or
2. No benefit, including any benefit under any USDA program, was derived from the crop.
e. That for purposes of the regulations cited, grazing means allowing farm animals to eat vegetation on the affected acreage and does not apply to any use by wild animals.
Final Agency Determination
The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) agrees in part with the requestor's interpretation.
a. FCIC agrees that a wildlife food plot containing a mixture of crops, including a crop for which prevented planting was obtained, can qualify as a cover crop if it is planted for erosion control or other purposes related to conservation or soil improvement. In addition, even if a wildlife food plot containing a mixture of crops does not meet the definition of "cover crop" and is planted for and used only as a food plot for wildlife, it would not be considered a second crop if it is not planted for harvest.
b. FCIC disagrees with b. If a wildlife food plot is comprised of two or more crops planted in such a manner that does not allow separate agronomic maintenance and harvest, the crop is considered interplanted for the purposes of section 9(a)(5) of the Basic Provisions and the planted crops would not be insurable.
c. FCIC agrees with c. The fact that the crop was interplanted precludes coverage for the wildlife food plot but it would not affect prevented planting eligibility for the crop claimed as prevented planting provided the crops are planted for and used only as a food plot for wildlife and the insured was prevented from planting by the final planting date due to an insured cause of loss.
d. FCIC agrees in part with d(1). Consistent with FAD-036-R, if the wildlife food plot that meets the definition of "cover crop" is planted within or prior to the late planting period (or on or prior to the final planting date if no late planting period is applicable) of the crop claimed as prevented planting and is:
- Hayed or grazed prior to the end of the late planting period (final planting date if no late planting period is applicable) for the insured crop that is prevented from being planted, no prevented planting coverage is available.
- Hayed or grazed after the applicable late planting period (final planting date if no late planting period is applicable) but prior to November 1 of the crop year, the prevented planting payment will be reduced by 65 percent.
- Hayed or grazed after November 1 of the crop year in which an insured crop is prevented from being planted, the prevented planting payment will not be reduced.
- Subsequently harvested (other than haying or grazing) at any time, no prevented planting payment can be made.
However, if the wildlife food plot does not meet the definition of "cover crop" and is hayed, grazed or otherwise harvested at any time, the wildlife food plot would be considered a second crop because it is harvested and no prevented planting payment would be owed for the first crop because the second crop was planted within or prior to the late planting period (or on or prior to the final planting date if no late planting period is applicable) of the crop claimed as prevented planting.
FCIC agrees with d(2) that if any benefit, including any benefit under any USDA program, was derived from a wildlife food plot that was planted within or prior to the late planting period (or on or prior to the final planting date if no late planting period is applicable) of the crop being claimed as prevented planting, no prevented planting payment would be owed for the crop claimed as prevented planting.
e. FCIC agrees with e. As stated in FAD-114, posted on RMA's website on April 22, 2010, wild animals eating the vegetation on the acreage would not be considered grazing for the purposes of sections 15(g)(3)(i) and 17(f)(5)(ii).
Even though 7 C.F.R. part 400, subpart X is only applicable to provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated hereunder, and the Crop Revenue Coverage and RA policies are not codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, to the extent those provisions are identical or nearly identical, this Final Agency Determination applies accordingly to assure consistent, uniform, and equitable treatment to all policyholders insured under the same policy provisions.
In accordance with 7 C.F.R. 400.765 (c), this Final Agency Determination is binding on all participants in the Federal crop insurance program for the 2008 crop year and succeeding crop years the policy provisions are in effect. Any appeal of this decision must be in accordance with 7 C.F.R. 400.768(g).
Date of Issue: August 8, 2011
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