Tree Assistance Program (TAP)

The 2014 Farm Bill authorized the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) to provide financial assistance to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes, and vines lost by natural disasters. TAP is administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). To be considered an eligible loss:Eligible trees, bushes, or vines must have suffered more than a 15 percent mortality loss in a stand (adjusted for normal mortality) due to an eligible 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; and FSA may require information from a qualified expert to determine extent of loss in the case of plant disease or insect infestation