Yes. The nine months includes all of the time from when you announce the program to putting the applications out and seeking to have the producer make application, to then making the payment. The nine months is not simply the “make the payment” portion.
To take your example of a flood or a drought situation, we often find that we can respond to the immediate impacts of not having the crop through our normal programs. With AgriInsurance, producers have insurance for forage needs for their cattle for the year. Those programs are available.
What we end up doing is offering transportation. We realize that extra feed needs to come in and that producers need to have some assistance with the extra transportation cost. We would have to announce the program so that producers know it is in place; then they can take they actions to make the transportation arrangements, have the feed transported, and then make the application to us. All of that has to occur within the nine-month period.
We are often asked to extend the application period to make sure it's covering a long enough period for producers to actually take the actions and make the applications to us.