12/13/06 Pilot program insures forage

Livestock producers in Idaho and Oregon did sign up and participate this fall in a pilot program to insure against losses of forage used for grazing and haying. It was the first time coverage of this type was available anywhere in the nation. Since the sales closing date for that pilot program was November 30th Dave Paul of USDA's Risk Management Agency won't know for 30 to 60 days how many actually enrolled. PAUL "I am as anxious as you are to see really how it did and it is going to take some time I think for people to understand the new concepts here and build the infrastructure around these programs to really make them work." Paul says a lot of producers in Idaho were forced to take a look at the program PAUL "If they received a crop disaster program payment from FSA for example then they were required to purchase the pasture rangeland and forage program so that in and of itself lead a lot of people to know that the program was available because FSA was communicating with their producers." The pilot program provides producers with flexibility. They don't have to insure all their acres. They can elect to insure only those acres that are important to their grazing or hay program. Producers don't have to insure for the whole year either, just those intervals of the year that represent the greatest risk. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott