RMA Revises Crop Insurance for Cherries and Broadens Access

SPOKANE Wash., Sept. 1, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is revising crop insurance programs for cherries for the 2023 and succeeding crop years. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is making changes to the Actual Revenue History (ARH) Pilot Endorsement, ARH Sweet Cherry Pilot Crop Provisions, and ARH Tart Cherry for Processing Pilot Crop Provisions.

“We are making these improvements to the crop insurance programs for cherries to provide more insurance coverage availability to producers,” said RMA Spokane Regional Office Director Ben Thiel. “These revisions will also improve the clarity and performance of the cherry crop insurance programs for our producers.”

The cherry insurance program is being updated to allow written agreements. This change may allow cherry producers to obtain coverage in areas where the program was not previously available. Cherry producers will also now be eligible to apply for Written Unit Agreements (WUA), which grant units by topographical or irrigation features if all requirements are met. WUAs are applicable to all cherry producers who meet the requirements.

RMA is also revising the cherry insurance program to match changes made under the Crop Insurance Reporting and Other Changes (CIROC) final rule. For example, for sweet cherries, RMA is revising the notification requirement for production intended for direct marketing from 15 days prior to sale to 15 days prior to harvest. This change will help facilitate an in-field appraisal, as needed.

The cherry insurance program protects growers against losses from low yields, low prices, low quality, or any combination of these events. The programs use producers’ historical revenue to provide individualized revenue coverage.

The Sweet Cherry Pilot program was established in 2009 and is now available in California, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The Tart Cherry for Processing Pilot program was established in 2014 and is now available in Michigan, New York, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Cherry producers purchased over 2,200 policies to protect more than $557 million in liabilities in 2021.

The changes to the cherry insurance program will be available on the USDA’s RMA website by August 31, 2022.

More Information

Federal crop insurance is critical to the farm safety net. It helps producers and owners manage revenue risks and strengthens the rural economy. Producers may select from several coverage options, including yield coverage, revenue protection, and area risk policies. Additional information can be found on the Actuarial Information Browser page on the RMA website.

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available online using the RMA Agent Locator. Producers can use the RMA Cost Estimator to get a premium amount estimate of their insurance needs online. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at www.rma.usda.gov.

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 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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