Organic producers will see changes in crop insurance program

[February 08, 2014]  SPRINGFIELD — The USDA's Risk Management Agency recently announced changes to the organics program under the federal crop insurance program. These changes are effective for the 2014 crop year.

The organic practice is offered for all insurable crops in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

Changes to the organic price used to establish insurance coverage will provide a crop insurance guarantee more reflective of organic crop values. Last year, RMA revised the organic price for corn, soybeans and processing tomatoes. For 2014, this list was expanded to include oats and mint. Also, most organic producers can now choose to use either their contract price or the established crop insurance price for coverage.

Organic transitional yields, or t-yields, used by producers who do not have enough organic production history to establish insurance coverage, have been revised and separated from non-organic t-yields. Additionally, the 5 percent premium surcharge has been removed.

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. Contact a local crop insurance agent for more information about the program. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers or on the RMA website at www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agents/.

[Text from file received from USDA Risk Management Agency, Springfield]