12/26/06 AGR insurance programs

Producers in the Treasure Valley have until January 31st to sign up for Adjust Gross Revenue Pilot crop insurance coverage. Dave Paul of the Risk Management Agency says that pilot program is only available in selected counties in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. PAUL "The AGR-Lite program which is available in every county in the Pacific Northwest the sales closing date, which is very similar to AGR, but there's a coverage limitation of a million dollars on AGR-Lite, the sales closing date for that product is March 15th. March 15th is also the closing date for the rest of the major commodities like dried peas, barley, sugarbeets, potatoes and other spring crops. The AGR-Lite plan can stand alone or be used in conjunction with most other federal crop insurance plans. It provides insurance coverage for multiple agricultural commodities under one insurance product and establishes revenue as a common denominator of insurance for all agricultural commodities on that farm. Paul says RMA has 577 policy holders in the Pacific Northwest this year and about 240 million dollars worth of coverage under the AGR programs. AGR-Lite was started a few years ago in Pennsylvania and expanded again this year to a point where it's now offered in 28 states. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott