Tree Assistance Program (TAP)

Grants to USA nursery tree growers and orchardists to restore and replace qualifying vines, bushes, and trees that have been damaged or lost as a result of disease or natural disaster. Funding may be requested to mitigate losses of commercially produced annual crops. Qualifying nursery trees include fruit, nut and ornamental trees produced for commercial sale.
The Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides financial assistance to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes, and vines that were lost or damaged.Nursery trees include ornamental, fruit, nut and Christmas trees produced for commercial sale; trees used for pulp or timber are not eligible for TAP assistance.To be considered an eligible loss:A requisite death loss must first be sustained; a stand of eligible trees, bushes, or vines must have suffered more than a 15 percent mortality loss (after normal mortality) due to a natural disaster;Mortality loss on a stand of eligible trees, bushes, or vines is based on:Each eligible disaster event, except for losses due to plant disease; andFor plant disease, the time period as determined by the FSA for which the stand is infected.The loss must not have been preventable through reasonable and available measures;The loss must be visible and obvious to the FSA representative; if the loss is no longer visible, FSA may accept other loss evidence and determine whether that other evidence substantiates that an eligible loss due to natural disaster occurred; andFSA may require information from a qualified expert to determine extent of loss in the case of plant disease or insect infestation.Florida was approved under TAP to recognize citrus greening as an eligible cause of loss. Eligible orchard or citrus trees, bushes and vines are those from which an annual crop is produced for commercial purposes. Citrus growers in Florida who sustain mortality losses due to citrus greening must meet the eligible loss criteria above. Since citrus greening is a disease, mortality related to citrus greening may be assessed over a 6 year period. The loss period due to citrus greening begins when the grower first recognizes the disease in the stand, and ends when an infected tree becomes either biologically dead or no longer commercially viable.Acreage Limitation:For losses that occurred prior to December 31, 2016, the cumulative total quantity of acres planted to trees, bushes or vines for which a producer can receive TAP payments cannot exceed 500 acres annually.The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 increased the cumulative total quantity of acres planted to trees, bushes, or vines for which an eligible orchardist or nursery tree grower can receive TAP payments from 500 acres annually to 1,000 acres annually for losses that occurred on or after January 1, 2017.For further details pertaining to losses for citrus growers, see https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/FactSheets/2018/tap_florida_citrus_greening_fact_sheet_may_2018.pdf#page=2.