(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section, to be eligible for payments under this subpart the unit must have suffered a loss of the crop, tree, bush, or vine, or prevented planting of a crop, due to a qualifying disaster event.

(b) A loss will not be eligible under this subpart if any of the following apply:

(1) The cause of loss is determined by FSA to be the result of poor management decisions, poor farming practices, or drifting herbicides;

(2) The cause of loss was due to failure of the participant to re-seed or replant to the same crop in a county where it is customary to re-seed or replant after a loss before the final planting date;

(3) The cause of loss was due to water contained or released by any governmental, public, or private dam or reservoir project if an easement exists on the acreage affected by the containment or release of the water;

(4) The cause of loss was due to conditions or events occurring outside of the applicable growing season for the crop, tree, bush, or vine;

(5) The cause of loss was due to failure of a power supply or brownout; or

(6) FSA or RMA have previously disapproved a notice of loss for the crop and disaster event unless that notice of loss was disapproved solely because it was filed after the applicable deadline.

(c) The following types of loss, regardless of whether they were the result of an eligible disaster event, are not eligible losses:

(1) Losses to crops intended for grazing;

(2) Losses to crops for which FCIC coverage or NAP coverage is unavailable;

(3) Losses to volunteer crops;

(4) Losses to crops not intended for harvest;

(5) Losses of by-products resulting from processing or harvesting a crop, such as, but not limited to, cotton seed, peanut shells, wheat or oat straw, or corn stalks or stovers;

(6) Losses to home gardens;

(7) Losses of first year seeding for forage production, or immature fruit crops; or

(8) Losses to crops that occur after harvest.

(d) The following losses of ornamental nursery stock are not eligible losses:

(1) Losses caused by the inability to market nursery stock as a result of lack of compliance with State and local commercial ordinances and laws, quarantine, boycott, or refusal of a buyer to accept production;

(2) Losses affecting crops where weeds and other forms of undergrowth in the vicinity of nursery stock have not been controlled; or

(3) Losses caused by the collapse or failure of buildings or structures.

(e) The following losses for honey, as a crop, where the honey production by colonies or bees was diminished, are not eligible losses:

(1) Losses caused by the unavailability of equipment or the collapse or failure of equipment or apparatus used in the honey operation;

(2) Losses caused by improper storage of honey;

(3) Losses caused by bee feeding;

(4) Losses caused by the application of chemicals;

(5) Losses caused by theft;

(6) Losses caused by the movement of bees by or for the participant;

(7) Losses caused by disease or pest infestation of the colonies, unless approved by the Deputy Administrator;

(8) Losses of income from pollinators; or

(9) Losses of equipment or facilities.

(f) Qualifying losses for trees, bushes, and vines will not include losses:

(1) That could have been prevented through reasonable and available measures; and

(2) To trees, bushes, or vines that were abandoned or were not in use or intended for commercial operation at the time of the loss.

[83 FR 33801, July 18, 2018, as amended 84 FR 48530, Sept. 13, 2019]