8-12 IAN New Crop Insurance

 Change is often for the better, and that is what U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) strived for in combining various insurance plans for the 2011 crop year.The new insurance policy combines four insurance plans with similar features into one single policy. The four insurance plans that have been combined are Actual Production History (APH), Crop Revenue Coverage (CRC), Revenue Assurance (RA) and Income Protection (IP) that had similar features into a single policy.  RMA kept the most important features of each insurance plan while simplifying the insurance options a producer faces when buying coverage. Wheat, barley, malting barley, corn and canola/rapeseed are the crops most affected by this change in the Spokane region.

Regional Director Dave Paul had this to say: “The intended effect of these changes is to offer producers a choice of revenue protection or yield protection under one policy. Jo Lynne Seufer, Risk Management Specialist had this to add: “It should be easier and a lot more conducive for producers to sign up and work with their agents. It will be a lot easier for agents as well.” If a producer has an active insurance policy for one or more of the affected crops during the 2010 crop year, the insurance policy will be converted automatically to the new policy.  No additional work is needed for insured producers who do not wish to make changes to their crop insurance policy for the 2011 crop year.