USDA
Outlines Eligibility for 2019 Supplemental Coverage Option Regarding
Elections for Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage
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[March 15, 2019]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk
Management Agency (RMA) announced that producers who purchased or
plan to purchase the 2019 Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) policy
should report Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage
(PLC) election intentions to their crop insurance agent by March 15,
2019, or the acreage reporting date, whichever is later.
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Producers have the option to elect either ARC or PLC through the
Farm Service Agency (FSA) to receive benefits. The 2018 Farm
Bill allows producers to make an election in 2019, which covers
the 2019 and 2020 crop years.
The Federal Crop Insurance Act prohibits producers from having
SCO on farms where they elect ARC. Because of the timing of the
Farm Bill, FSA’s ARC/PLC election period will not occur until
after the SCO sales closing dates and acreage reporting dates.
Producers who purchased SCO policies with sales closing dates of
Feb. 28, 2019, or earlier may cancel their SCO policy by March
15, 2019. This allows producers, particularly those who intend
to elect ARC for all their acres, to no longer incur crop
insurance costs for coverage for which they will not be
eligible.
Producers with SCO coverage now have the option to file an
ARC/PLC acreage intention report with their crop insurance agent
by the later of the acreage reporting date or March 15, 2019.
This report will adjust the acreage report by specifying the
intended ARC or PLC election by FSA Farm Number.
The number of eligible acres on farms with an
intention of PLC will be the number of acres insured for SCO
regardless of any actual elections made with FSA.
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If a producer does not file an ARC/PLC acreage
intention report, SCO will cover all acres as though the producer
elected PLC.
The existing penalties for misreporting eligible acreage on the SCO
endorsement will not apply in 2019.
Additional details about SCO can be found at www.rma.usda.gov.
Questions?
Please contact your local FSA Office.
[USDA Farm Service Agency]
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