A farmer who told the government every crop was insured can keep the bigger disaster payment, so long as the uninsured share of the loss stopped at 10 percent

Ten percent.

That is where the Farm Service Agency has drawn the line between a producer who keeps a disaster payment and one who sends part of it back. The agency filed a notice on Thursday defining de minimis for the purposes of the Emergency Relief Program 2022, and the definition is arithmetic rather than judgment: the revenue loss on crops that were neither insured nor covered by the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, divided by the total revenue loss reported on the application, must come to 10 percent or less.

The problem it fixes is a single question on a form. Track 2 of the programme paid on a revenue basis, and item 16 asked producers to certify whether every eligible crop was insured or covered by NAP. Answer yes and the payment was calculated with a 90 percent factor. Answer no and it was 70 percent. Some producers answered yes while also growing a crop that carried neither, which under the statute made the payment an overpayment.

The two examples the notice works through

Both use the same shape and land on opposite sides.

In the first, a producer reports a benchmark year revenue of $200,000 and a disaster year revenue of $100,000, a total loss of $100,000, and also grew tomatoes that were neither insured nor covered. Tomato revenue fell from $30,000 to $5,000, a loss of $25,000. That is 25 percent of the total, above the line, so the payment is recalculated at 70 percent and the difference is repaid.

In the second, the totals are larger and the uninsured crop is coastal hay. Benchmark revenue of $500,000 against disaster year revenue of $200,000 gives a total loss of $300,000. The hay loss is $7,500, worked from 100 expected acres at 3.5 bales against 2.5 bales actually produced, at $75 a bale. That is 2.5 percent. The producer keeps the payment.

The mechanics

Congress supplied the discretion and left the number to the Secretary. Section 1207 of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 amended the 2023 appropriations act to allow producers to retain payments up to 90 percent of their revenue losses where a de minimis amount of the loss is attributable to uninsured or uncovered crops, as defined by the Secretary. This notice is that definition.

The agency says it has already identified the affected participants and will write to them. Producers who think they qualify and receive nothing are told to contact their county office. The instrument is form FSA-524-C, the deadline is 60 calendar days from notification, and the supporting documentation has to be kept for three years because the certification is subject to spot check, with 30 days to produce documents if the agency asks.

One thing the notice forecloses. It is not reopening the application period, and previously filed applications may not be amended. The only thing on offer is the right to keep money already paid.