USDA to Host Two In-Person Listening Sessions for Producers in the RMA Valdosta, Georgia Region to Hear About Crop Insurance Coverage for Prevented Planting

VALDOSTA, Ga., July 25, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is inviting agricultural producers from throughout the Valdosta, Ga. region to participate in one of two special in-person listening sessions to provide comments on the Prevented Planting Request for Information published in the Federal Register on May 23, 2023. The events will give producers the opportunity to meet with members of the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) and directly comment on their needs and possible changes to prevented planting crop insurance coverage. The first listening session will be held on August 8, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. EDT, at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center, Florence, S.C.; the second is on August 9, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. EDT, Clemson Extension Office, Orangeburg, S.C.

“We are excited to have this opportunity to meet with producers and receive comments about such an important issue as prevented planting and the topics that are being considered,” said Davina Lee, Director of the RMA Valdosta Regional Office. “One of our top priorities at RMA is providing the best risk management tools we can by listening to our nation’s producers. This session helps us accomplish this priority and help our customers the best we can.”

The May 23 request for information on prevented planting outlines several questions for the listening session focusing on topics including:

• Harvest Price Option – Feedback on whether to allow the prevented planting payment calculations to be based on the higher of the projected price or the harvest price under the revenue protection plan of insurance.
• “1 in 4” Rule – Input on the challenges or experiences since the rule (to be eligible for prevented planting coverage, acreage must have been planted to a crop, insured, and harvested in at least 1 out of the previous 4 crop years) was implemented nationwide.
• 10 percent additional coverage option – Input on if RMA should reinstate the option to buy-up prevented planting coverage by 10 percent.
• Contract price – Whether prevented planting costs are higher for contracted crops and how prevented planting payments should be calculated for contract crops.
• General – Willingness to pay additional premium for expanded prevented planting benefits, recommendations on other prevented planting limitations, etc.

“The direct feedback and input that will come out of this session is vital in improving insurance coverage for prevented planting,” Lee added.

The request for information, which includes specific questions and instructions for submitting written feedback by September 1, is available in this Federal Register notice.

Prevented planting insurance provisions provide valuable coverage when extreme weather conditions prevent expected plantings. Prevented planting is when a producer is unable to plant an insured crop due to an insurable cause of loss in time to grow a viable crop. Final planting dates and late planting periods are detailed in a producer’s crop insurance policy, and they vary by crop and location. Prevented planting coverage is intended to assist with normal costs associated with preparing the land up to the point of seed going into the ground (pre-plant costs).

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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