The National Corn Growers Association has unveiled the Agriculture Disaster Assistance Program, a commodity title proposal for the 2012 farm bill that will modify and replace the existing Average Crop Revenue Election Program and provide a more effective and responsive safety net for growers. According to NCGA, ADAP builds on the existing structure of ACRE and is designed to address the need for simplification and elimination of overlapping coverage with individual crop insurance.

NCGA President Bart Schott says – responding to a charge by our voting delegates to investigate transitioning direct payments into programs that allow producers the ability to mitigate risk, our grower-led Public Policy Action Team developed a crop-specific, revenue-based risk management tool that provides a safety net when growers are facing a loss. Schott says – we are focusing on simplification and faster delivery of assistance when it is needed.

Changes include the use of harvest prices and crop reporting districts to set the crop revenue guarantee and would establish a guarantee based on the five-year Olympic average of revenue. Also, payments would be limited to 10 percent of the guarantee, based on planted acres and adjusted to a farm’s yield. Payments would cover lost revenue between 85 to 95 percent of the guarantee. Marketing loan rates would be restored to standard levels, rather than being reduced by 30 percent in ACRE.