SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Heavy rainfall and flood conditions across the Midwest have caused crop damage and slowed planting this spring.
Brian Frieden, director of the Springfield Regional Office of the Risk Management Agency, reminds producers faced with questions on prevented planting, replant or crop losses this spring, to contact their agent for more information.
Options
Producers who are unable to plant an insured crop by the final planting date due to an insurable cause, such as excess moisture and flooding have a number of options. Producers may plant the insured crop during the 25-day late planting period with a reduction in the production guarantee of 1 percent a day for each day planting is delayed after the final planting date.
Producers may leave the acreage idle and receive a full prevented planting payment or the insured may be able to plant the acreage to another crop after the late planting period and receive a reduced prevented planting payment. Producer with double cropping history can receive a full prevented planting within the guidelines of the policy.
Prevented planting coverage will not be provided for any acreage that does not constitute at least 20 acres or 20 percent of the insurable crop acreage in the unit.
Insurance
Producers need to keep in mind that group policies do not provide prevented planting coverage.
“Agricultural producers who are unable to plant due to excess moisture need to contact their insurance company to discuss prevented planting policy requirements related to their specific coverage and farming operation,” said Frieden. “The producer’s insurance company will make the final determination of acres eligible for prevented planting payments or outline other options, if any are available.”
Producers who have acreage that is now damaged because of excess moisture or flooding should notify their insurance company of the crop damage. The company will give permission to replant the acreage if it is practical to do so.
If it is not practical to replant the acreage, the company can give permission for the producer to put the acreage to another use, abandon the crop or destroy the crop.
Permission to replant, abandon or destroy any insured crop must be given in writing before the producer takes any action.
Frieden encourages producers to contact their crop insurance agent for assistance. Producers can also get crop insurance information on the web at www.rma.usda.gov.
