Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) For Winter Wheat Available In Two Georgia Counties

Under the new farm bill, the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) is a new crop insurance product that gives farmers additional coverage for a portion of deductibles associated with policies purchased in the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program.

SCO is not available for crops covered under Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC). Starting with the 2015 crop year, SCO will be available in select counties for corn, cotton, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, spring barley, spring wheat, and winter wheat.

For the 2015 winter wheat crop, producers in Jefferson and Laurens counties are eligible to purchase SCO policies.

County eligibility for SCO is determined using National Agricultural Statistics Service county yield data. County yield statistics must be available for 20 of the last 30 years. County yield estimates must also be available for eight of the last 10 years with an average of at least 10,000 planted acres over those years. Additionally, at least 50 farms for a particular crop in a county must be documented in the most recent Census of Agriculture for that county to be eligible.