Section 522(c)(1) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (Act) allows the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to conduct activities or enter into contracts to carry out research and development for underserved agricultural commodities, including specialty crops.

Section 522(c)(2)(B) of the Act requires RMA to consult with groups representing producers of the agricultural commodity that would be served by a policy that resulted from this research and development effort, prior to beginning any work, in order to determine the interest level or concerns of producers. We are expanding that scope to any parties interested in the subject efforts.

RMA plans to research and potentially develop a crop insurance product for date palms. Prior to initiating this study, RMA seeks preparatory input from interested parties regarding the following information:

• Level of interest in participating in a date palm Federal crop insurance program;
• Any producer concerns about development of a Federal crop insurance program for date palms;
• Availability of any existing private insurance products covering date palms;
• Types of risks, perils, or issues facing date palm producers;
• Potential availability of any state, county, contract, or producer level data relating to yield and price;
• Notification from any private developer that intends to submit or propose to the Federal Crop Insurance Board of Directors a date palm program as a concept proposal or 508(h) submission, including documents that demonstrate significant investment and progress in developing a program for date palms; and
• Any other information or relevant issues to be considered when carrying out research and determining the feasibility of a crop insurance program for date palms.

Please address any input regarding the intent to research and develop a Date Palm Federal crop insurance program by October 27, 2023, to Tara Ponds, Specialty Crops Coordinator, tara.ponds@usda.gov.

DISPOSAL DATE:
December 31, 2023