No, before an ERP payment can be made producers are responsible for certifying that the indemnities shown on the letter are a result of a qualifying disaster event. Qualifying disaster events include wildfires, hurricanes (including related excessive wind, storm surges, tornado, tropical storms, and tropical depression), floods (including related silt and debris), derechos (including related excessive wind), excessive heat, winter storms (including related blizzard and excessive wind), freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, and qualifying drought occurring in calendar years 2020 and 2021. Related conditions must have occurred as a direct result of the indicated disaster event. “Qualifying drought” includes only those counties in which the drought intensity was rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks or a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level at any point during the calendar years 2020 and 2021. Disaster events, including drought, occurring in calendar year 2022 are not qualifying events.
Linkage is tied to the crop and county that received the ERP payment. Producers who received an ERP payment on acreage classified as standard will have to meet the minimum 60 percent coverage requirement on all acreage classified as standard. Producers who received an ERP payment on high-risk acreage will have to meet the requirement on all acreage classified as high-risk.
- For example, if a producer received an ERP payment on standard rated soybean acreage, they would not be subject to the minimum 60% coverage on soybean acreage insured in newly classified high-risk areas. They would be subject to the minimum coverage on all soybean acreage remaining standard rated.
- If a producer received an ERP payment on high-risk rated soybean acreage, the newly classified high-risk acreage would need to meet the requirement if insured as soybeans.