News
WASHINGTON, Nov.17, 2023 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now offering crop insurance for sesame producers nationwide. Beginning in the 2024 crop year, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is expanding the Actual Production History (APH) plan to allow producers to request written agreements anywhere sesame or a similar crop has been grown successfully. RMA is expanding the program in response to requests from sesame producers.
“USDA has seen an increased interest in sesame production over the last few years due in large part to the fact that sesame is a low-input, drought, and heat tolerant crop,” RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger said. “After listening to feedback, the Risk Management Agency worked with producers to develop crop…
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 …
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is beefing up crop insurance options for specialty crop and organic producers, including rolling out new and expanded options based on feedback from America’s agricultural producers. To achieve this, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) accelerated its outreach efforts to hear directly from producers across the country by hosting in-person and virtual roadshows and making investments in risk management education. These improvements are part of a comprehensive effort to improve risk management tools and other programs for a wide variety of producers as well as expand access to organic markets.
“We’re committed to working with specialty…
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2023 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing a new crop insurance program designed for agricultural producers who use controlled environments in their operations. The new Controlled Environment program from USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is specifically for plants grown in fully enclosed controlled environments and…
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2023 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that oyster producers are now eligible for protection against losses due to named storms, excessive heat during a low tide event, freeze during a low tide event, or low salinity due to excessive rainfall. The new Shellfish crop insurance program is an actual production history-price component (APH-PC) coverage policy for container-grown oysters commercially cultivated for the fresh half shell market. This new program will be available beginning with…
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2023 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing Weaned Calf Risk Protection, a new insurance option for livestock producers in several states. This policy, offered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), offers Actual Production History (APH) coverage for beef cow-calf producers to insure revenue from their spring calving operations. Weaned Calf Risk Protection will be available for the 2024 crop year.
“There are many variables and…
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent expansion of its hurricane crop insurance policy to cover tropical storms this year has already provided farmers with $85.4 million to help them recover from Hurricane Idalia. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) rolled out the new Tropical Storm Option for its Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) Endorsement earlier this year after working directly with farmers to improve coverage. Additionally, through HIP-WI, producers have received $84.8 million in indemnities for hurricane-related losses for a total of over $170 million in crop insurance payments that…
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline for its Request for Information to Oct. 12, 2023, to solicit public comments on possible changes to prevented planting crop insurance coverage. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) believes extending the deadline will enable additional time for comments and feedback from commenters and key stakeholders.
“We received great feedback from our listening sessions throughout the country, and we want to ensure everyone has an opportunity to have their voice heard” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “We recognize that folks, particularly farmers, had a busy summer, and we will provide some extra time to submit comments.”
The…
RENO, Nev., Sep. 14, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced it is awarding about $6.5 million to 22 organizations to educate underserved, small-scale, and organic producers on farm risk management and climate-smart farm practices. The funding from USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) provides assistance through its Risk Management Education (RME) partnerships for organizations, such as nonprofits and land grant universities, to develop training and resources for producers about risk management options.
“This funding and these partnerships are integral to our outreach efforts in communities that historically have not had access to training about risk management options. Our Risk Management Education partnerships are part of USDA’s broader…
WASHINGTON, August 31, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that it is improving crop insurance options for small and diversified farmers through improvements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WRFP) and Micro Farm insurance plans. These updates are part of USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) efforts to increase participation and access to crop insurance.
“The improvements to Whole Farm Revenue…