Welcome to Cooperative Extension: Crop Insurance Education Program
Welcome to 2012!
Is your 2011 risk management plan adequate for 2012?
As you make plans for 2012, you need to seriously evaluate the adequacy of your 2011 risk management plan for each segment of your farm business. While a whole farm business focus is critical, in the interest of being brief, let’s focus on the crops segment of your farm business.
Time was when the government programs almost automatically provided a pretty good safety-net and about all producers had to do was to enroll, and perhaps, idle a few acres. But times have changed. Today, the major safety-net is determined by individual proactive producer decisions. For example, if all crops are not insured or covered by NAP, producers are ineligible for SURE Payments. Furthermore, if an adequate amount of crop insurance protection is not selected, the programs will not perform up to expectations or necessary payment levels when disasters occur. Therefore, risk management planning is as important as production and marketing planning.
USDA to Congress: “Crop insurance is a vital part of the farm safety net”
William J. Murphy
“Crop insurance is a vital part of the farm safety net and has become an integral part of business life for a large majority of American farmers and ranchers,” said USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) Administrator William J. Murphy in testimony before the House Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.
“[Farmers] would find it difficult to continue providing the United States and the world with an abundant supply of food, fiber and fuel without the protection provided by this part of the farm safety net,” he said in his June 24, 2011, appearance before Congress.
View the Full Story
Read a producer testimonial:
Crop Insurance As an Investment
Maine dairy insurance coverage available
Any producer who owns dairy cattle in Maine is now eligible for Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Cattle Insurance Policy coverage.
For information about the recent changes to RMA/USDA Dairy insurance changes, go to Breakthrough in Dairy Insurance Program (pdf).
Check out the 2011 Dairy Gross Margin Insurance video.
Crop Insurance History in Maine
For decades, the Federal Government made ad hoc disaster and deficiency payments to growers who experienced a significant crop or revenue loss due to weather or other conditions beyond their control. The Risk Management Agency, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, began funding educational programs to teach growers about the new way the government will be dealing with crop losses. Growers and producers will no longer receive government aid during years of crop disasters or price support payments during low price years. Instead, growers and producers will be responsible for managing their risks associated with farming. Crop Insurance will provide partial replacement for the Federal safety net.
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension has received a grant for Maine from the Risk Management Agency to educate Maine producers about crop insurance. For several years, extension educators have been conducting seminars, attending industry meetings and trades shows, and writing articles for commodity specific newsletters and other trade specific publications. Their goal is not to sell insurance to growers and producers, but to increase awareness of the changes occurring at the USDA and educate growers of the potential benefits of crop insurance to their operations.
In Cooperation with the Risk Management Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.
