News
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 24, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is reminding producers who received a prevented planting “top-up” payment last fall that they are required to purchase Federal crop insurance for the next two crop years. The deadlines (Sales Closing Dates) to purchase these crop insurance policies are January 31, February 15, February 28, and March 15, 2020, depending on a producer’s policy.
“We encourage crop insurance agents to help us spread the word to their customers,” said RMA Administrator Martin Barbre. “We want to make sure producers pay their premiums on time, so they don’t become ineligible to buy crop insurance.”
Producers who have trouble making their premium payment should contact their crop insurance agent to…
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 16, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) is reminding producers that their crop insurance premiums for the 2019 crop year are due January 31. Under this change, policies that do not have the premium paid by January 31, 2020, will have interest attach on February 1, calculated from the date of the premium billing notice.
USDA had deferred to January 31, 2020, the accrual of interest on 2019 crop year insurance premiums for most policies with a premium billing date of August 15, 2019, to help the large number of farmers and ranchers affected by extreme weather in 2019.
“At USDA, we understood the challenges that farmers and ranchers faced due to inclement weather last year, so we deferred the interest…
RALEIGH, N.C., March 2, 2016 - USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) reminds Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia producers the final date to apply for Whole-Farm Revenue Protection is March 15. Current policyholders who wish to make changes to their existing policies also have until the March 15 sales closing date to do so.
Crop insurance provides protection against a loss in production due to natural perils, such as drought or excessive moisture. Whole-Farm Revenue Protection allows producers to insure between 50 to 85 percent of their whole farm revenue and makes…
WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 23, 2019 – USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) today announced a new crop insurance option for hemp growers in select counties of 21 states in 2020. The pilot insurance program will provide Actual Production History (APH) coverage under 508(h) Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) for eligible producers in certain counties in Alabama, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The MPCI coverage is for hemp grown for fiber, grain or CBD oil for the 2020 crop year. It is in addition to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection coverage available to hemp growers announced…
WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 19, 2019 –- USDA farm programs helped producers weather a tough 2019, marked with prevented planting, delayed harvests, and unjustified foreign retaliatory tariffs. USDA’s farm program agencies – the Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Risk Management Agency (RMA), and Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center – worked to deliver programs to assist farmers and ranchers. Additionally, these agencies made strides to enhance efficiency and effectiveness to improve service to their customers.
“This has been a challenging year for our nation’s producers. I am very proud of all we’ve done to ease some of the financial strain farmers,…
WASHINGTON, December 6, 2019 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds insured producers nationwide who currently participate in Federal Crop Insurance and are facing a delay in harvesting their crop to contact their crop insurance agent and file a Notice of Loss (NOL) by December 10 or the applicable end of insurance period in order to request an extension of time to harvest. Once an extension has been approved, an insured producer needs to harvest the crop at the first feasible opportunity.
“Farmers are certainly struggling this year because of wet weather conditions,” said Martin Barbre, Administrator of USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). “Producers covered by Federal Crop Insurance that are unable to harvest on time should contact…
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 29, 2019 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced changes to crop insurance for sugar beets in 2020. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) made changes to the policy, which take effect in 2020 for some policies and 2021 for others. These changes better protect sugar beet producers who may experience a bumper crop in future years as well as provide other flexibilities.
“We continually listen to producers and other stakeholders in developing our crop insurance policies, and we make adjustments to these policies when necessary,” said RMA Administrator Martin Barbre. “With these changes, USDA is able to better support sugar beet producers and ensure the early harvest adjustment more accurately matches…
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 27, 2019 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced changes to crop insurance for coarse grains in 2020. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) made changes to the policy, which take effect in 2020. The changes allow producers more flexibility to choose enterprise units (EU) or optional units (OU) by Following Another Crop (FAC) or Not Following Another Crop (NFAC) cropping practice in select grain sorghum and soybean counties.
“We continually listen to producers and other stakeholders in developing our crop insurance policies, and we make adjustments to these policies when necessary,” said RMA Administrator Martin Barbre. “With these changes, we believe grain sorghum and soybean producers will have more flexibility.”
…KANSAS CITY, Mo. - November 14, 2019 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) today announced it will continue to defer accrual of interest for 2019 crop year insurance premiums to help the wide swath of farmers and ranchers affected by extreme weather in 2019. Specifically, USDA will defer the accrual of interest on 2019 crop year insurance premiums to the earlier of the applicable termination date or January 31, 2020, for all policies with a premium billing date of August 15, 2019. This extension is necessary since harvest progress has been very delayed and crop insurance claims are not typically settled until harvest is complete, squeezing cash flow even further. Bill Northey, USDA's Under Secretary for Farm Production…
Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2019 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will make available $800 million to agricultural producers in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia affected by hurricanes Michael and Florence. The state block grants are part of a broader $3 billion package to help producers recover from 2018 and 2019 natural disasters, which includes the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program-Plus (WHIP+) as well as programs for loss of milk and stored commodities.
“Natural disasters dealt producers some hefty blows in the past couple of years,” said Secretary Perdue. “This relief complements USDA’s tool chest of disaster assistance programs and crop insurance. In many cases, these special…