Whole-Farm Revenue Protection insurance will be available in every county in the nation in 2016. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is also making changes to the policy to help farmers and ranchers with diversified crops including beginning, organic, and fruit and vegetable growers, better access Whole-Farm Revenue Protection.

Whole-Farm Revenue Protection insurance allows producers with limited access to a risk management safety net, to insure all of the commodities on their farm at once instead of one commodity at a time.

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) introduced the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection pilot program for the 2015 insurance year. Starting with the 2016 insurance year, the new program will be available in all counties in the United States, a first for the federal crop insurance program.

USDA also provided additional flexibility to producers by making the following changes, including:
   • Beginning Farmers and Ranchers – RMA makes it easier for more beginning farmers and ranchers to participate in the program by reducing the required records from five to three historical years, plus farming records from the past year. Additionally, any beginning farmer and rancher may qualify by using the former farm operator’s federal farm tax records if the beginning farmer or rancher assumes at least 90 percent of the farm operation.
   • Livestock Producers – RMA removed the previous cap that limited participants to those who received 35 percent or less of their income from livestock production. Producers will now be able to insure up to $1 million worth of animals and animal products.
   • Expanding Operations – RMA increased the cap on historical revenue for expanding operations to 35 percent from its previous 10 percent to better allow growing farms the opportunity to cover their growth in the insurance guarantee.

To learn more about programs offered by the Risk Management Agency see: Risk Management Agency, or contact a local crop insurance agent.

 
Wyoming ranch managers are increasingly seeking production risk management tools for harvested forage production and grass production on rangeland. Forage production and rangeland production risks can be addressed to some degree by using the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provided by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In years when severe droughts are declared in a county, the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) provides compensation for forage production losses due to drought on rangeland.

The Risk Management Agency (RMA) offers a pilot Pasture, Rangeland, Forage-Vegetation Index (VI-PRF) insurance product in Wyoming that can be used to offset production losses on hay land production and grass production on rangeland.

Ranchers who suffer production losses in hay production and losses in grass production on rangeland can receive payments from NAP, LFP, and VI-PRF on the same forage loss without any payments offsets.

This policy issues paper provides Wyoming farmers and ranchers who suffer production losses on hay production and losses in grass production on rangeland with information on how they can receive payments from NAP, LFP, and PRF-VI. In addition, it reviews the risk management and crop insurance coverage benefits these programs provide to those who use them.

 
To download a copy of the issues paper from the Western Risk Management Library, click here.

To learn more about programs offered by the Farm Service Agency under the 2014 Farm Bill see: Farm Service Agency Farm Bill Information, or contact a local FSA office.

To learn more about programs offered by the Risk Management Agency under the 2014 Farm Bill see: Risk Management Agency Farm Bill – 2014, or contact a local crop insurance agent.