Federal Crop Insurance Corporation 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) amends the Common Crop Insurance Regulations, Sugar Beet Crop Insurance Provisions. This rule will reinstate stage guarantees and make the stage removal option permanent to ensure all producers have maximum flexibility to obtain the crop insurance coverage they need for their operation. The changes will be effective for the 2023 and succeeding crop years for counties with a contract change date on or after November 30, 2022, and for the 2024 and succeeding crop years for counties with a contract change date prior to November 30, 2022.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) is amending its walnut crop insurance regulations to remove the minimum acreage insurability requirement. This change will align the insurability requirements for walnut crop insurance with other tree nut insurance policies. Many walnut producers also grow other tree nut crops. Having different insurability requirements for crop insurance for similar crops has created additional work and confusion for producers and their Approved Insurance Providers (AIP). Much like other tree nut policies, the Walnut Crop Provisions will continue to require that the producer has a share in the orchard, the trees be adapted to the area, grown in an orchard acceptable to the AIP if inspected, and meet a minimum age requirement. The remaining insurability requirements have proven to be effective underwriting controls in the other tree nut policies to ensure the walnut crop insurance program remains actuarially sound with this change. In aligning the insurability requirements for walnuts and similar crops, this change is expected to make it easier for producers to obtain walnut crop insurance.

The Risk Management Agency (RMA), on behalf of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), announces the availability of funding under the Transitional and Organic Grower Assistance (TOGA) Program. The TOGA Program aims to assist producers that transition to and continue using organic agricultural systems. To address the economic challenges that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this crop insurance support to growers is a part of building more and better markets for American growers and consumers and increasing the resilience of the food supply chain. TOGA premium assistance will be applied to the premium billing statements for the 2023 reinsurance year, which covers applicable policies with sales closing dates from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. For most eligible crops, the 2023 reinsurance year is also the 2023 crop year. However, a few crops are in the 2023 reinsurance year but cover a different crop year. Some examples include raisins, California avocados, macadamia nuts, and several citrus crops.

Due to inadvertently having not included valid cover cropping practices because of the timing of acreage reporting, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) is correcting a final rule that published in the Federal Register on February 11, 2022. The final rule announced the Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP) that provides support for agricultural producers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for the 2022 crop year. With a specific focus on strengthening outreach to underserved producers and communities and small and medium agricultural operations, USDA dedicated funding to reaching a broader set of producers than was reached in previous COVID-19 assistance programs. As a part of that initiative, the final rule established PCCP for 2022.

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) is extending the comment period for an additional 60 days to provide the public more time to provide comments on the proposed rule to amend the Common Crop Insurance Regulations, Apple Crop Insurance Provisions. The additional comment period will end on April 15, 2022.