News
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2020 – Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) may allow organic producers to report acreage as certified organic, or transitioning to organic, for the 2020 crop year if they can show they have requested a written certification from a certifying agent by their policy’s acreage reporting date. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) made available this flexibility to help those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Many state and local governments have issued “stay-at-home” orders and have shut down non-essential businesses, resulting in market disruptions and preventing in-person crop insurance transactions.
“As the pandemic continues, RMA is also continuing to add more flexibilities to assist America’s farmers and…
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2020 – USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) today announced changes to the Forage Seeding and Forage Production crop insurance programs starting with the 2021 crop year. Changes include expanding coverage to new regions and counties, expanding coverage to fall-planted forage and changing the method for loss adjustment.
“These changes will expand coverage to new places, better reflect current agricultural practices and better protect forage producers from losses,” RMA Administrator Martin Barbre said. “This will also enable forage producers to better secure loans and provide continuity to their forage production operations.”
Specifically, the changes:
- Establish…
WASHINGTON, April 10, 2020 – USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is ensuring that milk producers are not inappropriately penalized if their milk must be dumped because of recent market disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, RMA is extending inspection deadlines, waiving inspection requirements and authorizing more crop insurance transactions over the phone and electronically to help producers during the crisis.
Many state and local governments have issued “stay-at-home” orders and have shut down non-essential businesses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in market disruptions and preventing in-person crop insurance transactions.
Specifically, RMA is:
- …
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2020 – USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is authorizing self-certification on replant inspections and waiving witness signatures in certain situations as part of a broader suite of flexibilities to support producers during the coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) may allow the use of self-certification replant inspections for certain crops with 100 gross acres (before considering share) per unit in lieu of 50 acres, and they may waive the witness signature requirement for approval of Assignment of Indemnity through July 15, 2020, for applicable crop years.
“RMA recognizes the challenges the crop insurance industry and America’s farmers and ranchers…
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 27, 2020 – USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is authorizing additional flexibilities due to coronavirus while continuing to support producers, working through Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) to deliver services, including processing policies, claims and agreements. These flexibilities include: enabling producers to send notifications and reports electronically, extending the date for production reports and providing additional time and deferring interest on premium and other payments.
“Crop insurance will continue to support farmers through the challenges ahead, and our RMA team is here to support them,” RMA Administrator Martin Barbre said. “We are working with the AIPs to…
USDA continues to make progress in institutionalizing support for beginning farmers and ranchers as required in the 2018 Farm Bill. Sarah Campbell will lead a department-wide team of state coordinators from the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Risk Management Agency, and Rural Development. The team will work to increase beginning farmer participation and access to programs while coordinating nationwide efforts on beginning farmers and ranchers.
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 12, 2020 — USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) reminds farmers in areas where levees breached in 2019 to review the impact those breaches may have on premium rates when considering crop insurance policy options for 2020. The deadline (Sales Closing Date) to update crop insurance policies or apply for coverage is March 16 for spring crops.
Last spring and summer’s flooding caused more than 200 levee breaches on over 100 levee systems in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Many of those levees are in the process of being repaired, but cropland behind levees that are not repaired to prior specifications may carry the highest premium rate classification in the county for the 2020 crop year.
“RMA is committed to helping farmers…
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 27, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) today announced a new crop insurance endorsement, Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI). HIP-WI covers a portion of the deductible of the underlying crop insurance policy when a county, or county adjacent, is within the area of sustained hurricane-force winds. The coverage provided by HIP-WI can be combined with the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) when acreage is also insured by a companion policy.
HIP-WI provides coverage for 70 different crops and is available in counties in the vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, as well as Hawaii. The deadline to purchase HIP-WI…
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 20, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) today announced a new crop insurance pilot program, Nursery Value Select (NVS), for crop year 2021. NVS is another crop insurance option for nursery crop producers, including those growing hemp, in addition to the Nursery crop insurance program.
NVS is available in select counties in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington to persons operating nurseries that meet certain criteria. The deadline to purchase NVS insurance, or the Sales Closing Date, is May 1, 2020, for Alabama, Florida, New Jersey and Texas and September 1, 2020, for Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.
“We’re happy to…
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 6, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the availability of two programs that protect hemp producers’ crops from natural disasters. A pilot hemp insurance program through Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) provides coverage against loss of yield because of insurable causes of loss for hemp grown for fiber, grain or Cannabidiol (CBD) oil and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage protects against losses associated with lower yields, destroyed crops or prevented planting where no permanent federal crop insurance program is available. Producers may apply now, and the deadline to sign up for both programs is March 16, 2020.
“We are pleased to…