Buying insurance for small-scale farms just got easier under a new Micro Farm policy developed by USDA to simplify record keeping and to cover post-production costs such as washing and value-added products.

Micro Farm is available for the 2022 crop year. Sales closing dates are Jan. 31, Feb. 28 or March 15, depending on the producer’s county.

This new policy was derived from research directed by the 2018 Farm Bill, and it includes feedback from producers who grow for their local communities. See the full report. 

Micro Farm is offered through Whole-Farm Revenue Protection and is geared to local producers. Details include:

Eligibility. Micro Farm is available to producers who have a farm operation that earns an average allowable revenue of $100,000 or less, or for carryover insureds, an average allowable revenue of $125,000 or less. The increase in allowable revenue for a carryover insured will allow for some farm growth in subsequent years before they become ineligible for the program. The Risk Management Agency’s research showed that 85% of producers who sell locally reported they made less than $75,000 in gross sales.

Coverage levels. All coverage levels will be available to producers using Micro Farm, enabling producers to purchase the 80% and 85% coverage levels without providing additional paperwork.

Underwriting and record-keeping requirements. Micro Farm minimizes underwriting and record-keeping requirements, and producers will not have to report expenses and individual commodities. 

Post-production revenue. Producers can include post-production activities as revenue, such as washing and packaging commodities or value-added products like jam.

Producers with crops insured under another crop insurance policy or a vertically integrated operation will not be eligible.

More information

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA service centers and online at the Risk Management Agency agent locator.

Growers having difficulty finding an agent should contact their RMA regional office. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at rma.usda.gov. 

Source: USDA, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.