DAVIS RO: USDA Updates Crop Insurance for Sugar Beets Making Early Harvest Adjustments Optional

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is revising its Sugar Beet crop insurance policy to make the early harvest adjustment feature optional for producers. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is offering this flexibility beginning with the 2024 crop year for most program areas and beginning with the 2025 crop year for Imperial County, California. The update is published in the Federal Register.

“In direct response to feedback from the country’s sugar beet growers, we are updating the Sugar Beet crop insurance policy to give producers even more flexibility,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “Having heard producers’ concerns and questions, we are now making the early harvest adjustment an optional feature of the policy, allowing producers to tailor their insurance to meet the unique risk management needs of their operations.”

In 2018, RMA responded to requests from producers to limit the effects on their Actual Production History (APH) databases caused by the need to harvest sugar beets before they reach full maturity by making early harvest adjustments to the Sugar Beet Crop Provisions. The 2018 revision was made because sugar beets harvested early are smaller and have less sugar than beets harvested at full maturity, resulting in lower net pounds of raw sugar in the producer’s APH database for that crop year.

This recent rule revision will now allow producers to opt-in to the early harvest adjustment. Producers will be required to select the option by the sales closing date. The producer will also choose which years from their APH database will include the adjusted early harvest yields.

More Information

The sales closing date for the 2024 crop year is March 15, 2024.

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.

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