Forage Seeding

Forage seeding is insurable if:

• It is alfalfa, or forage mixture containing at least 50 percent alfalfa, clover, birdsfoot trefoil, or any other locally recognized and approved forage legume species (by weight); or
• It is planted during the current crop year to establish a normal stand of forage.

This policy does not cover any acreage that is:

• Grown with the intent to be grazed, or grazed at any time during the insurance period; or
• Interplanted with another crop (except nurse crops).

Insurable counties with the forage seeding program may be found in the actuarial documents at the actuarial information browser. Forage seeding may be insurable in other counties by written agreement if specific criteria are met. Contact a crop insurance agent for more details. 

You are protected against the following:

• Adverse weather conditions, including natural perils such as hail, frost, freeze, wind, drought, and excess precipitation;
• Failure of irrigation water supply, if caused by an insured peril during the insurance period;
• Fire, if caused by an insured peril during the insurance period;
• Insect damage and plant disease, except for insufficient or improper application of control measures; and
• Wildlife.

Coverage begins on the date we accept your application or the date when the crop is planted. Coverage ends with the earliest occurrence of one of the following:

• Total destruction of the crop;
• Harvest of the unit;
• Final adjustment of a loss;
• Abandonment of the crop;
• The date grazing starts on the insured crop; or
• October 15 for fall-planted forage, or May 21 for acreage seeded in the spring.

• New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont
• • Sales Closing…………July 31, 2018
  • Final Planting………… August 31, 2018
  • Acreage Report………… November 15, 2018

• Maryland Allegany and Garret County
• • Sales Closing…………July 31, 2018
  • Final Planting………… August 31, 2018
  • Acreage Report………… December 15, 2018

• Maryland all other counties
• • Sales Closing…………July 31, 2018
  • Final Planting………… September 10, 2018
  • Acreage Report………… December 15, 2018

• Maine
• • Sales Closing…………March 15, 2019
  • Final Planting………… August 10, 2019
  • Acreage Reporting………… August 15, 2019

• Vermont and New York
• • Sales Closing…………March 15, 2019
  • Final Planting………… May 10, 2019
  • Acreage Reporting………… May 15, 2019

• New Jersey and Pennsylvania
• • Sales Closing…………March 15, 2019
  • Final Planting………… May 10, 2019
  • Acreage Reporting………… June 15, 2019

• Maryland, Allegany and Garret County
• • Sales Closing…………March 15, 2019
  • Final Planting………… May 10, 2019
  • Acreage Report………… May 15, 2019
• Maryland, all other counties
• • Sales Closing…………March 15, 2019
  • Final Planting………… April 30, 2019
  • Acreage Reporting………… May 15, 2019

Notice of Loss - If a loss occurs you should:

• Protect the crop from further damage by providing sufficient care;
• Notify your agent within 72 hours of your initial discovery of damage (but not later than 15 days after the end of the insurance period); and
• Leave representative samples intact for each field of the damaged unit.

A replanting payment may be allowed only in counties with both fall and spring planting dates if: 

• Fall-planted acreage is damaged by an insurable cause and less than 75 percent of a normal stand remains (a minimum of nine live plants per square foot will be considered to be a normal stand for loss adjustment);
• It is practical to replant;
• We give written consent to replant; and
• Such acreage is replanted the following spring by the spring final planting date. The replant payment is 50 percent of the determined indemnity.

A replanting payment will not be allowed in counties where the forage seeding was initially planted in the spring. You must replant the spring-planted forage at your own expense, if it is practical to replant.

Assume one basic unit of 50 acres of spring-seeded forage at 65 percent coverage level with a 10-acre fully established stand and 40 acres at 50 percent stand.