SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Oct. 4, 2023 –The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is inviting agricultural producers from throughout the region to participate in an in-person informational session about its new Controlled Environment pilot crop insurance program. Administered by the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), the program is specifically for plants grown in fully enclosed controlled environments and provides coverage against plant diseases and contamination subject to destruction orders. The informational session will be held on Oct. 12, 9:00 am EDT at the Michigan Greenhouse Growers Council DCI Propagators, Hudsonville, Mich.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to help introduce a great new program, which will greatly benefit urban, specialty crop, organic, and other producers who grow in controlled environments,” said Brian Frieden, Director of the RMA Springfield Regional Office. “Controlled environment agriculture is a quickly growing sector in the Nation’s food production, and this new option is part of USDA’s broader effort to support urban agriculture and new and better markets for American producers.”

Available beginning in the 2024 crop year, the Controlled Environment program is a dollar plan of insurance, which bases the insurance guarantee on inventory values reported by the producer and provides coverage against plant diseases and contamination when the plants must be destroyed under a federal or state destruction order.

The Controlled Environment program adds to two other federal insurance products available to nursery and innovative agricultural producers by providing benefits that are not available under the other programs, such as:

• Offer coverage for all Controlled Environment plants, including cuttings, seedlings, and tissue culture.
• Offer crop insurance coverage through a streamlined application and policy renewal process.
• Offer new crop insurance coverage specific to the disease risk to plants in Controlled Environment operations.
• Offer insurance for producer-selected plant categories for Controlled Environment that are not in other nursery insurance programs.
• Allow Controlled Environment operations to have Controlled Environment insurance to be purchased as a standalone policy or in conjunction with other nursery insurance.   

The first sales closing date is Dec. 1, 2023.

More Information

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at the RMA Agent Locator. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at rma.usda.gov or by contacting your RMA Regional Office.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit usda.gov.

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