New Crop Insurance Option For Specialty Crop Growers And Diversified Farms

Jan 13, 2015

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced the release of the Whol e - Farm Revenue Protection crop insurance program for the 2015 crop year. The policy allows producers to insure between 50 to 85 percent of their whole farm revenue and makes crop insurance more affordable for producers, including fruit and vegetable growers and organic farmers and ranchers.

Whole - farm revenue protection combi nes and enhances two popular and well - known plans of insurance, Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue - Lite (AGR - Lite). Policy enhancements include an expanded range of coverage levels, coverage for replanting, provisions that increase cov erage for expanding operations, a higher maximum amount of coverage and the inclusion of market readiness costs in the coverage.

The W hole - Farm Revenue Protection program is designed to fit any farm with up to $8.5 million in insured revenue, including f arms with specialty or organic commodities (both crops and livestock). The policy allows these growers to insure a variety of crops at once instead of one commodity at a time. That gives them the option of embracing more crop diversity and helps support th e production of a wider variety of foods. Whole - farm revenue protection is available in 45 states, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

The whole - farm premium subsidy is available to farms with two or more commodities that meet minimum diversif ication requirements. Producers can purchase whole - farm revenue protection in conjunction with individual crop policies as long as those policies are at a buy - up coverage level.

More information, including availability of the product, can b e found on the RMA website at: http://www.rma.usda.gov/policies/wfrp.html . Sales closing date for the Whole - Farm Revenue Protection program is March 15, 2015 for the 2015 crop year. Interested producers and current policyholders are encouraged to visit with a crop insurance agent to learn how whole - farm revenue protection may fit within their farm’s risk management needs. Growers must make all of their decisions on crop insurance coverage on or before the sales closing date.

Source:usda.gov

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.