Dates for agriculture, pasture, range and, forage programs

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) reminds producers in Idaho and Oregon of the November 15 sales closing dates for the Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) pilot program, Vegetation Index program, and the Apiculture (API) pilot program for the 2014 crop year.

The PRF and API pilot programs (available in all counties in Idaho and Oregon) are based on vegetation greenness indices. PRF is designed to give forage and livestock producers the ability to buy insurance protection for losses of forage produced for haying and grazing. The API pilot provides a safety net for beekeepers’ primary income sources – honey, pollen collection, wax, and breeding stock.

The Vegetation Index plan of insurance is not a plan of insurance against a loss of actual production. The Vegetation Index plan of insurance does not measure, capture, or utilize the actual crop production of any producer or any of the actual crop production within the grid, county or state. It is based upon grid indices, not individual farm yields. The Vegetation Index is a risk management tool to insure against a decline, caused by natural occurrences, in an index value that is based on the long-term historical average for the grid and index interval. It is best suited for producers whose past production correlates with the historical average vegetation index patterns for the grid.

Producers are encouraged to visit their crop insurance agent to review their historical grid information prior to the sales closing date of Friday, November 15, 2013. Federal crop insurance program policies are sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance companies and agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA service centers throughout the United States or on the RMA web site at www3.rma.usda.gov/tools/agents.