VALDOSTA, Ga., July 13, 2015 ― USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) reminds growers of the July 31 deadline to purchase crop insurance in Florida. This applies to crop insurance policies for fresh market tomatoes in Broward, Charlotte, Collier, De Soto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Polk, Sarasota, and St. Lucie counties. This also applies to crop insurance policies for fresh market sweet corn in Broward, De Soto, Glades, Hendry, Indian River, Lake, Martin, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, and Suwannee counties and for peppers in Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Palm Beach, Sarasota, and St. Lucie counties. Growers need to buy, review, or modify their crop insurance policies before the sales closing date has passed. Crop insurance provides protection against crop production losses due to natural perils such as freeze, hail, and excessive moisture.

A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at the RMA Agent Locator. Growers can use the RMA Cost Estimator to get a premium amount estimate of their insurance needs online. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at www.rma.usda.gov.

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