The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 ( P.L. Although the programs have expired, they are still making payments for losses that occurred prior to September 30, 2011. It essentially compensates eligible producers for a portion of losses that are not eligible for an indemnity payment under a crop insurance policy. The program departs, however, from both traditional disaster assistance and crop yield insurance by calculating and reimbursing losses using total crop revenue for the entire farm (i.e., summing revenue from all crops for an individual farmer). On December 28, 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued regulations for SURE. In the next farm bill debate, Congress will likely be interested in the effectiveness of SURE, and, if the program is reauthorized, how it will be funded. SURE is one of 37 programs that does not have a continuing budgetary baseline that could be used to pay for extending the program. In an effort to end the ad-hoc nature of emergency assistance, with legislation enacted after the disaster occurred, Congress authorized the SURE program in the 2008 farm bill. Part of the motivation was to provide a pre-designed program that farmers could incorporate in their risk management planning. It would presumably provide more timely payments. Under the new program, a farmer's revenue from all crops in all counties is compared with a guaranteed level of revenue that is computed mostly from expected or average yields and prices. As a result, the program considers the disaster's impact on a farmer's entire enterprise and not on just the crop(s) that were adversely affected. If the actual farm revenue (including farm program payments and insurance indemnities) is less than the farm's guaranteed level, the producer receives a payment. In contrast, if actual whole farm revenue does not fall below the guaranteed level, whereby losses for one crop are offset by revenue gains for another, no disaster payment is made. Payments are limited so that the guaranteed level cannot exceed 90% of expected farm income in the absence of a natural disaster. The payment is 60% of the difference between the two. Payment Timing

Disaster payments under SURE arrive well after the crop loss because some of the data needed to computed payment rates become available more than one year after harvest. Computing actual farm revenue requires season-average prices, which USDA publishes after the market year ends. Program signup for 2010 losses began November 14, 2011. USDA officials say that SURE is the most complex program USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) has undertaken. It has faced a number of implementation challenges in terms of program administration. Insurance Issues

Another issue has been accounting for various insurance products when determining the farmer's guarantee level. A primary policy question is how well this whole-farm approach helps manage farm-level risk. Nevertheless, some farmers have complained that the whole-farm approach typically does not result in disaster payments for diversified operations because aggregating revenue across a farmer's entire operation substantially reduces the likelihood of receiving assistance. In contrast, where farmers have qualified for payments, the initial reaction has been generally favorable. Under the 2008 farm bill, the SURE program provides payments to producers for crop revenue losses due to natural disaster or adverse weather incurred on or before September 30, 2011.
In an effort to end the ad-hoc nature of emergency crop disaster assistance to farmers, Congress authorized a new Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE) in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The program provides payments to producers for crop revenue losses due to natural disaster or adverse weather incurred on or before September 30, 2011. Although program authority has expired, SURE is still making payments for losses that occurred prior to that date.
SURE essentially compensates eligible producers for a portion of losses that are not eligible for an indemnity payment under a crop insurance policy. The program departs from both traditional disaster assistance and crop yield insurance by calculating and reimbursing losses using total crop revenue for the entire farm (i.e., summing revenue from all crops for an individual farmer). Under SURE, a farmer's revenue from all crops in all counties is compared with a guaranteed level that is computed mostly from expected or average yields and prices. As a result, the program considers the disaster's impact on a farmer's entire enterprise and not on just the crop(s) that were adversely affected. If the actual farm revenue (including farm program payments and insurance indemnities) is less than the farm's guaranteed level, the producer receives a payment, calculated as 60% of the difference between the two amounts. In contrast, if actual whole farm revenue does not fall below the guarantee, whereby losses for one crop are offset by revenue gains for another, no disaster payment is made. Payments are limited so that the guaranteed level cannot exceed 90% of expected farm income in the absence of a natural disaster. As of mid-December 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had issued $2.8 billion for 2008 and 2009 losses under the SURE program. Program signup for 2010 losses began November 14, 2011.
USDA officials say that SURE is the most complex program USDA's Farm Service Agency has undertaken. It has faced a number of implementation challenges in terms of program administration, such as collecting and tabulating a significant amount of data for individual farmers, as well as crop price data that are not readily available. Another issue has been accounting for various insurance products when determining the farmer's guarantee level.
Part of the motivation behind SURE was to provide a pre-designed program that farmers could incorporate in their risk management planning. Also, payments would be presumably more timely because legislation would already be in place when disaster strikes. However, disaster payments under SURE arrive well after the crop loss because some of the data needed to compute payment rates become available more than one year after harvest. Computing actual farm revenue requires season-average prices, which USDA publishes after the market year ends. Also, government commodity payments, which are also needed for the revenue calculation, can occur 1½ years after the crop is harvested. Thus, SURE program payments have not been as timely as some farmers and policymakers would like.
In the next farm bill debate, Congress will likely be interested in the effectiveness of SURE, and, if the program is continued, how it will be funded. SURE is one of 37 programs that does not have budgetary baseline. Major policy questions are likely to be (1) whether the SURE program can be modified to eliminate the call for ad-hoc crop disaster payments, and (2) how well this whole-farm approach helps manage farm-level risk. Some farmers have complained that the whole-farm approach typically does not result in disaster payments for diversified operations. In contrast, where farmers have qualified for payments, the reaction has been generally favorable.