Crop Production

Crop Insurance

 

Risk Management Agency Moves to Provide Crop Insurance for Winter Canola

Written Agreements to be available for the 2007 crop.

The Risk Management Agency (RMA) is working towards providing crop insurance for winter canola in the Southern Great Plains through the authority provided to them by Senator Pat Roberts’ (KS) “similar crops” amendment, which was included in the FY2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. The US Canola Association petitioned Congress to enact the amendment, which gave RMA the statutory authority to use similar crops in developing the three years of production history necessary for obtaining a written agreement to insure a crop. Written agreements are used when an insurable crop does not have a policy available in a particular county. Winter or fall seeded canola is insurable in some counties in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast, but the policy does not yet extend into the Great Plains. Written agreements are the first step in getting full coverage for winter canola in a county.

RMA is developing an actuarial for Dewey County, Oklahoma, which will be the basis for winter canola crop insurance for the region. The Transitional (T) Yield being developed for winter canola through the use of “similar crops” will be used for any grower who can prove a small grains production history. The “similar crops” T Yield will be gradually replaced as actual canola yield history is developed by the National Agriculture Statistics Service in ensuing years, and likewise, an individual producer’s T Yield will be replaced with his actual winter canola yields as well.

Growers in all counties in the region will have an opportunity to insure fall 2006 seeded winter canola through a written agreement. However, growers some distance from Dewey County will likely be offered a slightly different policy to match their agronomic conditions, i.e. different planting dates, etc. Crop insurance agents in the region will have the next several months to market this newly available insurance policy to potential winter canola producers. The deadline to apply for coverage through written agreements will be August 31, 2006.

 

Oklahoma Commodity Insurance Fact Sheet - 2008