(a) This subpart is obsolete for the 2024 and succeeding crop years for crops with a contract change date on or after June 30, 2023, and for the 2025 and succeeding crop years for all crops with a contract change date prior to June 30, 2023.

(b) An Actual Production History (APH) Coverage Program is offered under the provisions contained in 7 CFR part 457 and all Special Provisions (as defined in 7 CFR 457.8) thereto unless specifically excluded by the Special Provisions.

(c) The APH program operates within limits prescribed by, and in accordance with, the provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), only on those crops identified in this section in those areas where the actuarial documents provide coverage. Except when in conflict with this subpart, all provisions of the applicable crop insurance contract for these crops apply.

In addition to the definitions contained in the crop insurance contract, the following definitions apply for the purposes of the APH Coverage Program:

(a) APH. Actual Production History.

(b) Actual yield. The yield per acre for a crop year calculated from the production records or claims for indemnities. The actual yield is determined by dividing total production (which includes harvested and appraised production) by planted acres for annual crops or by insurable acres for perennial crops.

(c) Adjusted yield. The transitional or determined yield reduced by the applicable percentage for lack of records. The adjusted yield will equal 65 percent of the transitional or determined yield, if no producer records are submitted; 80 percent, if records for one year are submitted; and 90 percent, if two years of records are submitted.

(d) Appraised production. Production determined by the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS), the FCIC, or a company reinsured by the FCIC, that was unharvested but which reflected the crop's yield potential at the time of the appraisal. For the purpose of APH “appraised production” specifically excludes production lost due to uninsurable causes.

(e) Approved APH yield. A yield, calculated and approved by the verifier, used to determine the production guarantee and determined by the sum of the yearly actual, assigned, and adjusted or unadjusted transitional or determined yields divided by the number of yields contained in the database. The database may contain up to 10 consecutive crop years of actual and or assigned yields. At least four yields will always exist in the database.

(f) Assigned yield. A yield assigned by FCIC in accordance with the crop insurance contract, if the insured does not file production reports as required by the crop insurance contract. Assigned yields are used in the same manner as actual yields when calculating APH yields except for purposes of the Nonstandard Classification System (NCS).

(g) Base period. Ten consecutive crop years (except peaches, which have a five-year base period) immediately preceding the crop year defined in the insurance contract for which the approved APH yield is being established (except for sugarcane, which begins the calendar year preceding the immediate previous crop year defined in the insurance contract).

(h) Continuous production reports. Reports submitted by a producer for each crop year that the unit was planted to the crop and for the most recent crop year in the base period.

(i) Crop year. Defined in the crop insurance contract, however, for APH purposes the term does not include any year when the crop was not planted or when the crop was prevented from being planted by an insurable cause. For example, if an insured plants acreage in a county to wheat one year, that year is a crop year in accordance with the policy definition. If the land is summerfallowed the next calendar year, that calendar year is not a crop year for the purpose of APH.

(j) Database. A minimum of four years up to a maximum of ten crop years of production data used to calculate the approved APH yield.

(k) Determined yield (D-yield). An estimated year for certain crops, which can be determined by multiplying an average yield for the crop (attained by using data available from The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) or comparable sources) by a percentage established by the FCIC for each county.

(l) Master yields. Approved APH yields, for certain crops and counties as initially designated by the FCIC, based on a minimum of four crop years of production records for a crop within a county.

(m) New producer. A person who has not been actively engaged in farming for a share of the production of the insured crop for more than two crop years.

(n) Production report. A written record showing the insured crop's annual production and used to determine the insured's yield for insurance purposes. The report contains yield history by unit, if applicable, including planted acreage for annual crops, insurable acreage for perennial crops, and harvested and appraised production for the previous crop years. This report must be supported by written verifiable records, measurement of farm stored production, or by other records of production approved by FCIC on an individual basis. Information contained in a claim for indemnity is considered a production report for the crop year for which the claim was filed.

(o) Production Reporting Date (PRD). The PRD is contained in the crop insurance contract and is the last date production reports will be accepted for inclusion in the database for the current crop year.

(p) Transitional yield (T-Yield). An estimated yield, for certain crops, generally determined by multiplying the ASCS program yield by a percentage determined by the FCIC for each county and provided on the actuarial table to be used in the APH yield calculation process when less than four consecutive crop years of actual or assigned yields are available.

(q) Verifiable records. Contemporaneous records of acreage and production provided by the insured, which may be verified by FCIC through an independent source, and which are used to substantiate the acreage and production that have been reported on the production report.

(r) Verifier. A person authorized by the FCIC to calculate approved APH yields.

(s) Yield variance tables. Tables for certain crops that indicate unacceptable yield variations and yield trends which will require determination of the APH yield by the FCIC.

(a) Production reports must be provided to the crop insurance agent no later than the production reporting date for the crop insured.

(1) Production reports must provide an accurate account of planted acreage for annual crops or insurable acres for perennial crops, as well as harvested and appraised production by unit.

(2) The insured must certify the accuracy of the information.

(3) Production reported for more than one crop year must be continuous. A year in which no acreage was planted to the crop on a unit or no acreage was planted to a practice, type, or variety requiring an APH yield will not be considered a break in continuity. Assigned yields, at the discretion of the FCIC, may be used to maintain continuity of yield data of file. Production on uninsured (for those years a crop insurance policy under the Federal Crop Insurance Act is in effect) or uninsurable acreage (for other years of the period) will not be used to determine APH yield unless production from such acreage is commingled with production from insured or insurable acreage.

(b) Production reports and supporting records are subject to audit or review to verify the accuracy of the information certified. Production and supporting records may be reviewed and verified if a claim for indemnity is submitted on the insured crop. The reported yield is subject to revision, if needed, so that the claim conforms to the records submitted at that time.

(1) Inaccurate production reports or failure to retain acceptable records shall result in the verifier combining optional farm units and recomputing the approved APH yield. These actions shall be taken at any time after reporting or record discrepancies are identified and may result in reduction of the approved APH yield for any calendar year.

(2) Records must be provided by the insured at the time of an audit, review, or as otherwise requested, to verify that the acreage and production certified are accurate. Records of any other person having shares in the insured crop, which are used by the insured to establish the approved APH yield, must also be provided upon request.

(3) In the event acreage or production data certified by two or more persons sharing in the crop on the same acreage is different, the verifier shall, at the verifier's discretion, determine which acreage and production data, if any, will be used to determine the approved APH yield. If the correct acreage and production cannot be determined, the data submitted will be considered unacceptable by the verifier for APH purposes.

(4) Failure of the producer to report acreage and production completely and accurately may result in voidance of the crop insurance contract, as well as criminal or civil false claims penalties pursuant to applicable Federal criminal or civil statutes.

(a) The insured is solely responsible for the timely submission and certification of accurate, complete production reports to the agent. Production reports must be provided for all planted units.

(b) Records may be requested by the FCIC, or an insurance company reinsured by the FCIC, or by anyone acting on behalf of the FCIC or the insurance company. The insured must provide such records upon request.

(c) The agent will explain the APH Program to insureds and prospective insureds. When necessary, the agent will assist the insured in preparation of production reports. The agent will determine the adjusted or unadjusted transitional or determined yields in accordance with § 400.54(b). The agent will review the production reports and forward them to the verifier, along with any requested and required supporting records for determination of an approved APH yield.

(d) The verifier will determine if the certified production reports are acceptable and calculate the approved APH yield.

(a) The approved APH yield is calculated from a database containing a minimum of four yields and will be updated each subsequent crop year. The database may contain a maximum of the 10 most recent crop years and may include actual, assigned, and adjusted or unadjusted T or D-Yields. T or D-Yields, adjusted or unadjusted, will only occur in the database when there are less than four years of actual and/or assigned yields.

(b) The insured may be required to provide production records to determine the approved APH yield, if production records for the most recent crop year are available. If acceptable records of actual production are provided, the records must be continuous and contain at least the most recent crop year's actual yield.

(1) If no acceptable production records are available, the approved APH yield is the adjusted T or D-Yield (65 percent of T or D-Yield).

(2) If acceptable production records containing information for only the most recent crop year are provided, the three T or D-Yields adjusted by 80 percent will be used to complete the minimum database and calculate the approved APH yield.

(3) If acceptable production records containing information for only the two most recent crop years are provided, the two T or D-Yields adjusted by 90 percent and the two actual yields will be used to complete the database and calculate the approved APH yield.

(4) If acceptable production records containing information for only the three most recent crop years are provided, the three actual yields and one unadjusted T or D-Yield are used to complete the database and calculate the approved APH yield.

(5) When the database contains four or more (up to ten) continuous actual yields, the approved APH yield is a simple average of the actual yields.

(6) New producers may have their approved APH yields based on unadjusted T or D-Yields or a combination of actual and unadjusted T or D-Yields.

(7) Producers who add land or new practice, types and varieties to their farming operations and who do not have available records for the added land, practice, types or varieties may have approved APH yields for the added land, practice, types or varieties that are based on adjusted or unadjusted T or D-Yields as determined by FCIC.

(8) If the producer's crop is destroyed or if it produces a low actual yield due to insured causes of loss, the resulting average yield may qualify for catastrophic yield adjustment according to FCIC guidelines. APH yields qualifying for catastrophic yield adjustment may be adjusted to mitigate the effect of catastrophic years. Premium rates for approved APH yields, which are adjusted for catastrophic years, may be based on the producer's APH average yield prior to the catastrophic adjustment or such other basis as determined appropriate by FCIC.

(c) If no insurable acreage of the insured crop is planted for a year, a production report indicating zero planted acreage will maintain the continuity of production reports for APH record purposes and that calendar year will not be included in the APH yield calculations.

(d) Actual yields calculated from the claim for indemnity will be entered in the database. The resulting average yield will be used to determine the premium rate and approved APH yield, at the discretion of FCIC.

(e) Optional units are not available to an insured who does not provide acceptable production reports for at least the most recent crop year with which to calculate an approved APH yield.

(f) FCIC may determine approved APH yields for designated crops in the following situations:

(1) If less than four years of yield history is certified and T or D-Yields are not provided in the actuarial documents,

(2) If actual yield exceed tolerances specified in yield variance tables, and

(3) For perennial crops:

(i) If significant upward or downward yield trends are indicated;

(ii) If tree or vine damage, or cultural practices will reduce the production level;

(iii) If more than two percent of the trees or vines have been removed within the last two years; or

(iv) If yield trends are evident and yields greater than the average yield are requested by the insured.

(g) APH yields will not be approved the first insurance year on perennial crops until an inspection acceptable to FCIC has been performed and the acreage is accepted for insurance purposes in accordance with the crop insurance contract.

(h) APH Master Yields may be established whenever crop rotation requirements and land leasing practices limit the yield history available. FCIC will establish crops and locations for which Master Yields are available. To qualify, the producer must have at least four recent continuous crop years' annual production reports and must certify the authenticity of the production reports of the insured crop. Master Yields are based on acreage and production history from all acreage of the insured crop in the county in which the operator has shared in the crop's production.

(i) FCIC may use any production report available under the provisions of any crop insurance contract, whether continuous or not, involving the interests of the person's insured crops in determining the approved APH yield.

The insured may appeal the approved APH yield in accordance with the procedures contained in 7 CFR part 400, subpart J. Administrative remedies through the appeal process must be exhausted prior to any action for judicial review. The approved APH yield determined as a result of the appeal process will be the yield applicable to the crop year.