Posted May 22, 2014
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced
a new risk management pilot program for fruit and vegetable growers and producers
with diversified farms, according to the USDA news release available here. The Grower also reported on the story here.
The crop insurance policy is called “Whole-Farm Revenue
Protection” and will “allow farmers to insure all crops on their farm at once,
rather than insuring commodity by commodity.”
The program aims to give farmers greater flexibility in planting
decisions.
“Crop insurance has been the linchpin of the farm
safety net for years and continues to grow as the single most important factor
in protecting producers of all sizes from the effects of unpredictable weather,”
said Vilsack. “Providing farmers the
option to insure their whole farm at once gives farmers more flexibility,
promotes crop diversity, and helps support the production of healthy fruits and
vegetables. More flexibility also
empowers farmers and ranchers to make a broader range of decisions with their
land, helping them succeed and strengthening our agriculture economy.”
This policy, introduced in the 2014 Farm Bill, will
offer coverage levels from 50 percent to 85 percent, according to an article by
Farm Futures available here. The policy will also include a Market
Readiness Feature “which allows costs such as washing, trimming, and packaging
to be left in the insured revenue instead of having to adjust those amounts out
of the insured amount.”
The new policy will be available where AGR and AGR-Lite
are available and will be administered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency.
For more information on crop insurance, please visit
the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
