USDA Offers New Crop Insurance Program for Producers Using Controlled Environments
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 provides coverage against plant diseases subject to destruction orders. Available beginning in the 2024 crop year, the Controlled Environment program provides a risk management resource for urban, specialty crop, and organic producers who often use controlled environments as a major part of their operations.
“We are always looking to improve and expand the crop insurance resources we offer to agricultural producers, and the new Controlled Environment program will greatly benefit urban, specialty crop, organic and other producers who grow in controlled environments,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “Controlled environment agriculture is a quickly growing sector in the Nation’s food production, and this new option is part of USDA’s broader effort to support urban agriculture and new and better markets for American producers.”
The Controlled Environment program is a dollar plan of insurance, which bases the insured’s guarantee on inventory values reported by the producer, and provides coverage against plant diseases when the plants must be destroyed under a federal or state destruction order.
The Controlled Environment program adds to two other federal insurance products available to nursery and innovative agricultural producers by providing benefits that are not available under the other programs, such as:
- Offer coverage for all Controlled Environment plants, including cuttings, seedlings, and tissue culture.
- Offer crop insurance coverage through a streamlined application and policy renewal process.
- Offer new crop insurance coverage specific to the disease risk to plants in Controlled Environment operations.
- Offer insurance for producer-selected plant categories for Controlled Environment that are not in other nursery insurance program.
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Allow Controlled Environment operations to have single peril Controlled Environment insurance to be purchased as a standalone policy or in conjunction with other nursery insurance.
The first sales closing date is Dec. 1, 2023.
The Controlled Environment program will be available in select counties in Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
More Information
RMA is holding virtual and in-person informational sessions this month. Learn more.
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.
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 pressures involved in running a cow/calf operation, making it even more important that ranchers have a variety of insurance options available similar to the wide range of options available to crop growers,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “The introduction of Weaned Calf Risk Protection reflects our priority to always pay attention to the evolving needs of producers and create options that can meet their unique situation.”
APH policies insure producers against yield losses due to natural causes such as drought, excessive moisture, hail, wind, frost, insects, and disease. In the case of the new Weaned Calf Risk Protection, coverage is provided for a decline in price and loss of yield due to a decrease of overall weaning weight like revenue coverage offered for other crops.
The program will be available in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Texas, beginning with the Jan. 31, 2024, sales closing date for the 2024 crop year. Coverage levels between 50 and 85% will be available along with catastrophic coverage.
This new insurance program adds to the suite of livestock insurance available to livestock producers such as Livestock Gross Margin (LGM), Livestock Risk Protection (LRP), Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF), Annual Forage (AF), and Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP).
More Information
Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents, whom interested producers should contact. 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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