§ 1477.103 - Definitions.

The definitions in this section shall be applicable for all purposes of administering the 1998 Crop Loss Disaster Assistance Program and all subparts of this part.

Actual production means the total quantity of the crop appraised, harvested or which could have been harvested as determined by the county or State FSA committee in accordance with instructions issued by the Deputy Administrator.

Additional coverage means with respect to insurance plans of crop insurance providing a level of coverage equal to or greater than 65 percent of the approved yield indemnified at 100 percent of the expected market price, or a comparable coverage as established by FCIC.

Appraised production means production determined by FSA, RMA, FCIC, a company reinsured by FCIC, or other appraiser acceptable to CCC, that was unharvested but which was determined to reflect the crop's yield potential at the time of appraisal.

Approved yield means the amount of production per acre, computed in accordance with FCIC's Actual Production History Program (7 CFR part 400, subpart G) or for crops not included under 7 CFR part 400, subpart G, the yield used to determine the guarantee. For crops covered under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance program, the approved yield is established according to part 1437 of this title.

Aquaculture means the reproduction and rearing of aquatic species in controlled or selected environments, including, but not limited to, ocean ranching (except private ocean ranching of Pacific salmon for profit in those States where such ranching is prohibited by law).

Aquaculture facility means any land or structure including, but not limited to, a laboratory, hatchery, rearing pond, raceway, pen, incubator, or other equipment used in aquaculture.

Aquacultural species means aquacultural species as defined in part 1437 of this chapter.

CCC means the Commodity Credit Corporation.

Catastrophic risk protection means the minimum level of coverage offered by FCIC.

Catastrophic Risk Protection Endorsement means the relevant part of the Federal crop insurance policy that contains provisions of insurance that are specific to catastrophic risk protection.

Control county means: for a producer with farming interests in only one county, the county FSA office in which the producer's farm(s) is administratively located; for a producer with farming interests which are administratively located in more than one county FSA office, the county FSA office designated by FSA to control the payments received by the producer.

County committee means the local FSA county committee.

Crop of economic significance means a crop with a value equal to ten percent (10%) or more of the total value of the producer's share of all crops grown in the county for the relevant crop year. However, an amount will not be considered economically significant if the potential liability under the Catastrophic Risk Protection Endorsement is equal to or less than the administrative fee required with respect to such insurance for the crop, or, if applicable, the crop type or variety.

Crop insurance means an insurance policy reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation under the provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act, as amended.

Cropland means cropland as defined in part 718 of this title.

Crop year means: for insured and uninsured crops, the crop year as defined according to the applicable crop insurance policy; and for noninsurable crops, the year harvest normally begins for the crop, except the crop year for all aquacultural species and nursery crops shall mean the period from October 1 through the following September 30, and the crop year for purposes of calculating honey and tree losses shall be the period running from January 1 through the following December 31.

Deputy Administrator means the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs, Farm Service Agency (FSA), or a designee.

Disaster means damaging weather, including drought, excessive moisture, hail, earthquake, freeze, tornado, hurricane, typhoon, volcano, excessive wind, excessive heat, or any combination thereof; and shall also include a related condition and all eligible loss conditions, excluding price risk for 1998 single-year losses, as determined by the crop insurance policy, if RMA has made an eligible loss determination.

Double-cropped means a condition in which a subsequent crop of a different commodity is planted on the same acreage as the first crop within the same crop year if the county committee determines both crops were or could have been carried to harvest.

End use means the purpose for which the harvested crop is used, such as fresh, processed or juice.

Entity means any legal organization or joint venture of any kind, including, but not limited to, corporations, trusts and partnerships.

Expected market price (price election) means the price per unit of production (or other basis as determined by FCIC) anticipated during the period the insured crop normally is marketed by producers. This price will be set by FCIC before the sales closing date for the crop. The expected market price may be less than the actual price paid by buyers if such price typically includes remuneration for significant amounts of post-production expenses such as conditioning, culling, sorting, packing, etc.

Expected production means, for an agricultural unit, the historic yield multiplied by the number of planted or prevented acres of the crop for the unit.

FCIC means the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, a wholly owned Government Corporation within USDA.

Final planting date means the date established by RMA for insured and uninsured crops by which the crop must be initially planted in order to be insured for the full production guarantee or amount of insurance per acre. For noninsurable crops, the final planting date is the end of the planting period for the crop as determined by CCC.

Flood prevention means with respect to aquacultural species, placing the aquacultural facility in an area not prone to flood; in the case of raceways, providing devices or structures designed for the control of water level; and for nursery crops, placing containerized stock in a raised area above expected flood level and providing draining facilities, such as drainage ditches or tile, gravel, cinder or sand base.

FSA means the Farm Service Agency.

Good nursery growing practices means utilizing flood prevention, growing media, fertilization to obtain expected production results, irrigation, insect and disease control, weed, rodent and wildlife control, and over winterization storage facilities.

Growing media means:

(1) For aquacultural species, media that provides nutrients necessary for the production of the aquacultural species and protects the aquacultural species from harmful species or chemicals; and

(2) For nursery crops, media designed to prevent “root rot” and other media-related problems through a well-drained media with a minimum 20 percent air pore space and pH adjustment for the type of plant produced.

Harvested means: For insured and uninsured crops, harvested as defined according to the applicable crop insurance policy; for noninsurable single harvest crops, that a crop has been removed from the field, either by hand or mechanically, or by grazing of livestock; for noninsurable crops with potential multiple harvests in one year or harvested over multiple years, that the producer has, by hand or mechanically, removed at least one mature crop from the field; and for mechanically harvested noninsurable crops, that the crop has been removed from the field and placed in a truck or other conveyance, except hay is considered harvested when in the bale, whether removed from the field or not. Grazed land will not be considered harvested for the purpose of determining an unharvested or prevented planting payment factor.

Historic yield means, for a unit, the higher of the county average yield or the producer's approved yield.

Individual stand means, with respect to trees, an area of eligible trees that are tended by an eligible producer as a single operation, whether or not the trees are planted in the same field or similar location, as determined by the county committee. Eligible trees not in the same field or similar location may be considered to be separate individual stands if county committee determines that there are significantly differing levels of loss susceptibility.

Insurance is available means when crop information is contained in RMA's county actuarial documents for a particular crop and a policy can be obtained through the RMA system, except if the Group Risk Plan of crop insurance was the only plan of insurance available for the crop in the county in the 1998 crop year, insurance is considered not available for that crop.

Insured crops means those crops covered by crop insurance pursuant to 7 CFR Chapter IV and for which the producer purchased either the catastrophic or buy-up level of crop insurance so available.

Intended crop means an insured crop which the producer timely indicates for RMA insurance purposes as the crop the producer intends to produce.

Limited coverage means plans of crop insurance offering coverage that is equal to or greater than 50 percent of the approved yield indemnified at 100 percent of the expected market price, or a comparable coverage as established by FCIC, but less than 65 percent of the approved yield indemnified at 100 percent of the expected market price, or a comparable coverage as established by FCIC.

Multi-use crop means a crop intended for more than one end use during the calendar year such as grass harvested for seed, hay, and/or grazing.

Multiple planting means the planting for harvest of the same crop in more than one planting period in a crop year on different acreage.

Noninsurable crops means those crops for which crop insurance was not available.

Normal mortality means the percentage of damaged or dead trees in the individual stand or the percentage of dead aquacultural species that would normally occur during the crop year.

Operator means operator as defined in part 718 of this title.

Palmer Drought Severity Index means the meteorological index calculated by the National Weather Service to indicate prolonged and abnormal moisture deficiency or excess.

Pass-through funds means revenue that goes through, but does not remain in, a person's account, such as money collected by an auction house for the sale of livestock which is subsequently paid to the sellers of the livestock, less a commission withheld by the auction house.

Person means person as defined in part 1400 of this chapter, and all rules with respect to the determination of a person found in that part shall be applicable to this part. However, the determinations made in this part in accordance with 7 CFR part 1400, subpart B, Person Determinations, shall also take into account any affiliation with any entity in which an individual or entity has an interest, irrespective of whether or not such entities are considered to be engaged in farming.

Planted acreage means land in which seed, plants, or trees have been placed, appropriate for the crop and planting method, at a correct depth, into a seedbed that has been properly prepared for the planting method and production practice normal to the area as determined by the county committee.

Producer means producer as defined in part 718 of this title.

Related condition means with respect to disaster, a condition related to a disaster that causes deterioration of a crop such as insect infestation, plant disease, or aflatoxin that is accelerated or exacerbated naturally as a result of damaging weather occurring prior to or during harvest as determined in accordance with instructions issued by the Deputy Administrator.

Reliable production records means evidence provided by the producer that is used to substantiate the amount of production reported when verifiable records are not available, including copies of receipts, ledgers of income, income statements of deposit slips, register tapes, invoices for custom harvesting, and records to verify production costs, that are determined acceptable by the county committee.

Repeat crop means with respect to a producer's production, a commodity that is planted or prevented from being planted in more than one planting period on the same acreage in the same crop year.

RMA means the Risk Management Agency.

Salvage value means the dollar amount or equivalent received by the producer for the quantity of the commodity that cannot be marketed or sold in any recognized market for the crop.

Secondary use means the harvesting of a crop for a use other than the intended use, except for crops with intended use of grain, but harvested as silage, ensilage, cobbage, hay, cracked, rolled, or crimped.

Secondary use value means the value determined by multiplying the quantity of secondary use times the CCC-established price for this use.

Secretary means the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Substitute crop means an alternative crop whose sales closing date has passed and that is planted on acreage that is prevented from being planted to an intended crop or where an intended crop is planted and fails.

Trees means maple trees for syrup, or orchard trees grown for commercial production of fruits or nuts.

Uninsured crops means those crops for which Federal crop insurance was available, but the producer did not purchase insurance.

Unit means, unless otherwise determined by the Deputy Administrator, basic unit as described in part 457 of this title which, for ornamental nursery production shall include all eligible plant species and sizes.

Unit of measure means:

(1) For all insured and uninsured crops, the FCIC-established unit of measure;

(2) For aquacultural species, a standard unit of measure such as gallons, pounds, inches or pieces, established by the State committee for all aquacultural species or varieties;

(3) For Christmas trees, a plant or tree;

(4) For turfgrass sod, a square yard;

(5) For maple sap, a gallon; and

(6) For all other crops, the smallest unit of measure which lends itself to the greatest level of accuracy with minimal use of fractions, as determined by the State committee.

United States means all 50 States of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

USDA means United States Department of Agriculture.

Value loss crop will have the meaning assigned in part 1437 of this chapter.

Verifiable production records means evidence that is used to substantiate the amount of production reported and that can be verified by CCC through an independent source.