USDA Expands, Enhances Florida Citrus Policy

VALDOSTA, Ga., September 1, 2021 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expanding coverage and making other improvements to the Actual Production History (APH) Florida Citrus Fruit crop insurance, which will begin in the 2023 crop year.

“We are updating this important crop insurance program to provide greater consistency and flexibilities for farmers and ranchers,” said Davina Lee, Director of RMA’s regional office in Valdosta, Georgia. “The updates to Florida Citrus Fruit insurance stem from feedback provided by Florida’s citrus growers.”

Specific changes include:

• Expanding coverage for lemons to Highlands and Charlotte counties in Florida;
• Moving the deadline for a revised acreage report and the date insurance attaches following a revised acreage report from March 1 to May 15 to allow additional time for ownership and lease changes;
• Removing the acreage limitation for contract pricing (producers with both contracted and non-contracted production will have the ability to use a weighted average price for their production);
• Allowing trip tickets to be considered as acceptable production records. The state requires detailed trip tickets for hauling citrus fruit; and
• Providing quality adjustment for low juice content due to an insurable cause of loss to fruit production insured as fresh but sold as juice. This will make the policy more consistent with the Florida Citrus Fruit Dollar Plan, providing for an easier transition from the Dollar Plan to the APH plan.

The APH Florida Citrus Fruit program insures grapefruit, lemons, mandarins/tangerines, oranges, tangelos, and tangors in the state of Florida. Producers purchased more than 2,000 policies to protect more than $529 million in liabilities in 2020.

More Information

The number of agricultural producers who purchase crop insurance for their specialty and organic crops continues to climb, which USDA attributes to its work with producers and agricultural groups in recent years to create new crop insurance options, to expand and improve current options like grape insurance. Learn more in our August 26, 2021 news release.

RMA staff are working with crop insurance companies and other customers to support crop insurance coverage for producers. Farmers with crop insurance questions or needs should contact their insurance agents about conducting business remotely (by telephone or email). More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.

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.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In 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 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 www.usda.gov.

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