USDA Gives Farmers More Time to Pay Crop Insurance Premiums, Listening Sessions Planned

The struggles of American farmers and ranchers could get some assistance in the form of a delay in paying some of their bills. The USDA announced that farmers can have an additional 60 days to pay crop insurance premiums, administrative fees, and amounts due under written payment agreements that establish the required terms for repaying delinquent debts or setting up installment plans.

Supplementary Payment Agreement for Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans or Rural Housing Service (RHS) repayment plans can “help prevent foreclosure, loan acceleration, or suspension of government program eligibility,” the USDA website explained.

The delay covers premium billing dates between July 1 and September 30. “Approved insurance providers may waive interest charges,” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said during FarmFest in south-central Minnesota last week.

“May” is not a mandate, farmers will remember. But the delay could provide a small break for those whose finances are tight right now.

Crop insurance premium delay

“We’re modernizing how USDA serves farmers, providing commonsense flexibility when it’s needed most, and strengthening the risk management tools producers depend on,” Rollins said. 

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USDA listening sessions

Multiple agriculture-critical states will host listening sessions on a new USDA initiative, the department announced. The USDA announced its Data Modernization Plan last month, which will focus on the “Research, Education, and Economics Mission Area,” the USDA stated.

“The initiative aims to streamline agricultural reporting, combat declining survey response rates, and restore producer confidence in USDA data as the ‘gold standard,’” according to the USDA. 

Here are the sites of the upcoming listening sessions:

• Indiana State Fair

• Wisconsin State Fair

• Penn State Ag Progress Days

• Illinois State Fair

• Dakotafest

• Missouri State Fair

• Iowa State Fair

• Nebraska State Fair

• Farm Progress Show

Crop insurance for hazelnut growers

Corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton farmers make up most of growers utilizing crop insurance. But some hazelnut growers may want the chance as well.

The Oregon Hazelnut Commission is leading an effort to submit data to the USDA to get its industry included in crop insurance programs. The state produces nearly all hazelnuts in the United States.

The commission contracted with AgriLogic Consulting to gather data to make the case to the USDA that hazelnuts merit crop insurance coverage.

“It’s something that probably should have happened a long time ago, but hopefully we can get that rectified in the next couple of years,” Brannick Sweetser, a policy analyst at AgriLogic Consulting, told Capital Press. 

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