USDA Announces Crop Insurance for Organic Farmers

In a news release last week, USDA announced the launching of a new pilot program for insuring crop losses on diversified and organic farms. The new program, called Whole-Farm Revenue Protection, was authorized by the 2014 farm bill and will provide farmers flexible coverage options for specialty crops, organic production, and diversified cropping systems. Last week, OTA’s Farmer Advisory Council (FAC) held its first summit as part of OTA’s annual Policy Conference and identified availability of adequate crop insurance as one of the barriers to increasing organic acreage in the U.S.

Participants in the FAC Summit heard from administrators from Risk Management Agency (RMA) and discussed new options for organic growers. FAC will continue to solicit input from its members and allied farmer organizations and provide RMA with meaningful feedback from the organic industry as it rolls out the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection program.

Contact Nathaniel Lewis, OTA’s Senior Crops and Livestock Specialist with questions.