The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it is improving crop insurance options for small and diversified farmers. USDA is making changes to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection and Micro Farm insurance plans.
Both policy options provide a risk management safety net for all commodities grown on a farm under one policy. They were designed to meet the needs of specialty, organic, or those marketing to local, specialty, or direct markets.
The Micro Farm insurance plan is tailored for any farm with up to $350,000 in approved revenue. WFRP covers any farm with up to $17 million in insured revenue.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency introduced Micro Farm in 2021. These updates are part of RMA’s efforts to increase participation and access to crop insurance.
“The improvements to Whole Farm Revenue Protection and Micro Farm policies are a direct response from feedback we’ve received from producers” says RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “These are two of the most comprehensive risk management plans available, and they are especially important to specialty crop, organic, urban, and direct-market producers.”
Changes To WFRP For 2024
- Allowing all eligible producers to qualify for 80% and 85% coverage levels.
- Allowing producers to purchase catastrophic coverage level policies for individual crops with WFRP.
- Expanding yield history to a 10-year maximum for all crops not covered by another federal crop insurance policy.
- Making the policy more affordable for single commodity producers.
- Allowing producers to customize their coverage by choosing whether WFRP will consider other federal crop insurance policies as primary insurance.
Changes To Micro Farm For 2024
- Moving the sales closing date to a less busy time of year to help agents dedicate time to marketing the program.
- Allowing producers to purchase other Federal crop insurance with Micro Farm.
- Allowing vertically integrated entities to be eligible for Micro Farm.
- Making the Expanding Operations feature available with Micro Farm.
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