A Long Time Coming

A Long Time Coming

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report.

It took 13 years, but the dry pea, lentil and chickpea industry will finally have a pulse crop revenue insurance program. The hope is that the 2013 crop will be the first crop year to be insured in the pilot revenue protection program.

One of the biggest hurdles that had to be overcome before creating the new insurance program was determining a price at the beginning of the crop year and at harvest time. Unlike the grain markets, dry peas, beans, lentils or chickpeas do not have futures or option markets.

Risk Management Agency Regional Director Dave Paul explains more.

Paul: “Coverage will be available for revenue protection and revenue protection with harvest price exclusion. Which is really similar to our revenue protection under our combo policy. Basically straight revenue protection, upside and downside price protection, revenue protection with a harvest price exclusion is simply downside price protection with no upside price risk.”

Paul compliments the Idaho-based U.S. Dry Pea and Lentil Council for all of their work on bringing this new insurance program to fruition.

Paul: “These guys have worked so hard. What they really wanted to do was to provide dry pea and lentil producers the same kind of tools that wheat and barley and corn producers have. Through a whole lot of work and details efforts. Never quitting on this. ”

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.