Feb 19, 2016

USDA expands insurance options for farmers transitioning to certified organic

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the expansion of a crop insurance option to allow producers to purchase insurance coverage that better reflects their product’s actual value.

Producers transitioning to certified organic production can now use the Contract Price Addendum to cover their crops at a higher price than traditional crops. The Contract Price Addendum allows farmers transitioning to organic production to insure certain crops at their contract price rather than the published USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) price election.

RMA has also expanded organic premium price elections to 57 crops, up from four in 2011, providing organic producers the option to protect their 2016 crops closer to the market value.

For example, under the Contract Price Addendum, a producer in Nebraska can use a contract price for millet up to a maximum of $7.34 per bushel (for transitional) or $8.44 (for certified organic production), as opposed to using the existing RMA price elections of $3.67 (for transitional) or $4.22 (for certified organic production). A Contract Price Addendum fact sheet is available online at http://go.usa.gov/cyFGR.

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.

The sales closing date is the last day to buy a new policy or change an existing policy’s coverage level. Producers can find sales closing dates for the crops in their states by referring to RMA’s regional office state directory. Current policyholders also have until the sales closing date to make any changes to their existing contracts.

A list of commodities eligible for the Contract Price addendum is available online at www.rma.usda.gov/news/currentissues/organics/cpa_eligibility.html.

More information on risk management tools available for organic farmers can be found on the RMA organic crops website. Visit www.usda.gov/organic to learn more about USDA’s resources for organic agriculture.