The National Corn Growers Association has unveiled the Agriculture Disaster Assistance Program (ADAP), a
commodity title proposal for the 2012 farm bill that will modify and replace the existing Average Crop
Revenue Election (ACRE) Program and provide a more effective and responsive safety net for growers.
"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," NCGA President Bart Schott said. "We are focusing on simplification and
faster delivery of assistance when it is needed."
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. 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.
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.
"While today’s farm bill provides critical assistance to farmers when they face a significant loss,
growers also need a program that can efficiently address gaps in protection that cannot be addressed by
federal crop insurance alone," Schott said. "ADAP will assist in streamlining those goals and
ensure farmers are better protected when revenue is lost due to crop disease, volatile commodity markets
and adverse weather across multiple years."