RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 17, 2015 — USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced that the new Whole-Farm Revenue Protection insurance policy is available for the 2015 crop year. Farmers in all Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia counties need to purchase this new crop insurance option by March 15.

RMA created the whole-farm crop insurance policy so that farmers could insure a variety of crops at once instead of one commodity at a time. The policy allows farmers to insure between 50 to 85 percent of their whole-farm revenue and makes crop insurance more affordable for farmers. This gives them the option of embracing more crop diversity and helps support the production of a wider variety of foods.

The Whole-Farm Revenue Protection insurance includes a wide range of available coverage levels, coverage for replanting, provisions that increase coverage for expanding operations, a higher maximum amount of coverage, and the inclusion of market readiness costs in the coverage. This policy is tailored for any farm with up to $8.5 million in insured revenue, including farms with specialty or organic commodities (both crops and livestock), or those marketing to local, regional, farm-identity preserved, specialty, or direct markets.
The new policy will also provide a whole-farm premium subsidy to farms with two or more commodities as long as minimum diversification requirements are met, which means purchasing crop insurance will be more affordable for producers. Whole-Farm Revenue Protection can be purchased in conjunction with individual crop policies as long as those policies are at a buy-up coverage level. More information, including availability of the product, can be found on the RMA Whole-Farm website.

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at at the RMA Agent Locator. Producers can use the RMA Cost Estimator to get a premium amount estimate of their insurance needs online.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).