Pa. Crop Insurance
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)
Agriculture Secretary Sam Hayes has
announced a continuation of the
Pennsylvania Crop Insurance Assist
ance Program. The program was cre
ated by the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Agriculture in 2000 to help
Pennsylvania farmers participate in
crop insurance. All Pennsylvania
farmers who purchase crop insur
ance are eligible for cost share assist
ance.
As the devastating drought of 1999
made its mark on Pennsylvania agri
culture, the need for a disaster assist
ance program became apparent.
Pennsylvania responded quickly. In
an effort to spare farmers from eco
nomic ruin, drought assistance pay
ments were provided.
“Absolutely no other state or De
partment of Agriculture had as big a
response to the 1999 drought as we
did in Pennsylvania,” Hayes noted.
“Our Governor and state lawmakers
responded to the need to provide a
bridge from the 1999 crop year to the
next year and its growing season.
“PDA is not organized as a disas
ter payment agency. But I wanted to
use every dollar for farmer pay
ments. So, I asked the men and
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administer the hay assistance,
drought assistance payments, and
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ed administrative costs.”
Coming out of the drought, and
knowing there would not always be
the budgetary opportunity for disas
ter payments, Hayes wanted to pro
vide a better protective shield and
better risk management opportunity
against natural disasters through a
“reformed” crop insurance program.
The Pennsylvania Crop Insurance
Assistance Program, initiated and
administered by PDA, has helped in
crease crop insurance participation
to a new high with nearly 1.1 million
acres of protected crops. More farm
ers are participating in this type of
risk management than at any point
in Pennsylvania’s history. Risk-man
agement tools are especially impor
tant during periods of drought or
deadly freezes, providing protection
for farm enterprises. This is good for
farm families and Pennsylvania agri
culture.
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Hayes noted that
the crop insurance
reform movement is
a major initiative of
the Pennsylvania
Department of Agri
culture. “1 wanted
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Program Extended
to seize the opportunity for a good,
long-term public policy coming out
of the disastrous drought of 1999,”
Hayes said.
One of the first steps in developing
affordable risk management plans
for Pennsylvania farmers was to ded
icate revenue to the task of helping to
underwrite the cost of crop insurance
in Pennsylvania.
Before, the recent “reform move
ment” insurance policies in the na
tion were not inviting for Pennsylva
nia’s diverse agriculture. Hayes
formed a Pennsylvania Crop Insur
ance Task Force and called national
insurance companies and the Risk
Management Agency to the Pennsyl
vania Department of Agriculture to
forge a crop insurance program that
would be more reflective of mid-At
lantic cropping systems.
Pilot projects have been launched
in 14 Pennsylvania counties which
will further quantify the need for pol
icy reform both in Pennsylvania and
other states that have very diverse
agriculture.
To emphasize the importance of
risk management, the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture
initiated 70 outreach meetings
that were attended by approx-
imately 4,000 farmers prior to
this spring’s planting season.
Other outreach and educa-
tional programs, such as pub-
lic service announcements,
have also been initiated by
PDA, and will be continued this fall
and next spring. These meetings pro
vide the opportunity for farmers to
leam about the various crop insur
ance policy options that meet their
risk management needs.
The Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture and Hayes received na
tional recognition for initiating the
reform movement.
To expand the coverage to more
eligible acres and crops, the Pennsyl
vania Department of Agriculture has
worked with crop insurance compa
nies and the Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation to expand the availabili
ty of existing policies and develop
more effective policy provisions such
as Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
Pennsylvania has insured more
acres under the Crop Insurance As
sistance Program than ever before. In
just a few years, crop insurance cov
erage has increased in Pennsylvania
from 6,000 policies to approximately
15,000 policies.
The Pennsylvania Crop Insurance
Assistance Program covers ten per
cent of the gross premium (about 20
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percent of net) plus the total amount
of related fees. This makes CAT poli
cies and coverage free to the farmer.
The Pennsylvania program is in ad
dition to any federal crop insurance
assistance that may be available from
year to year.
The Pennsylvania sign-up pro
gram is congruent with the USDA/
RMA sign-up for crop insurance. To
purchase insurance for crop year
2003, farmers may sign-up with their
local crop insurance agent. The
deadline for sign-up for this year’s
fall planting is Sept. 30, 2002. The
deadline for tree and vine crops is
Nov. 20, 2002. Farmers eligible for
the AGR program have until Jan. 31,
2003 to sign up. The deadline to sign
up for next spring’s planting is
March 15,2003.
For additional information regard
ing the Crop Insurance Assistance
Program or AGR, contact the PA
Department of Agriculture at (717)
787-2376 or the Website at www.pda,
state.pa.us. Please check with your
local crop insurance agent regarding
your specific crop insurance policy
requirements. A list of agents can be
obtained on the RMA Website at
rma.usda.gov.
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