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Important crop insurance deadline near for Pacific Northwest; Alaska

Specialty crop, other producers need to certify conservation compliance by June 1

T.J. Burnham 1, Editor, Western Farmer-Stockman

May 11, 2015

2 Min Read

The USDA's Risk Management Agency reminds Pacific Northwest and Alaska producers, including nursery, fruit and vegetable producers, that they need to have their Highly Erodible Conservation and Wetland Conservation Certification form (AD-1026) on file with their local USDA service center by June 1, 2015. The 2014 Farm Bill required all producers have the form on file by the June 1 deadline to become or remain eligible for crop insurance premium support.

"Most producers already have a certification form on file, however, some such as nursery, fruit and vegetable producers who are new to crop insurance or who may not participate in other USDA programs may not be aware that they need to do this," says Ben Thiel, director, Spokane Regional Office.

"We have taken many steps recently to broaden participation in the crop insurance program as part of the farm safety net, including offering new policies such as the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection and extending organic price elections to many new crops."

Producers are urged to visit their local USDA service center and talk with their crop insurance agent before the June 1, 2015, deadline to ask questions, get additional information or learn more about conservation compliance procedures. Producers who file their form by the deadline will be eligible for federal crop insurance premium support during the 2016 reinsurance year, which begins July, 1, 2015.

Additional information about federal crop insurance and the HELC and WC provisions is available on the RMA Farm Bill webpage.

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 RMA Agent Locator. Producers can use the RMA Cost Estimator to get a premium amount estimate of their insurance needs online. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at www.rma.usda.gov

About the Author

T.J. Burnham 1

Editor, Western Farmer-Stockman

T.J. Burnham has covered western agriculture for 42 years. A University of Michigan journalism program grad, he worked for The Sacramento Bee for 15 years before moving into specialty farm magazine writing. He has been on the Farm Progress staff for 10 years.

"A lot of my uncles back in Michigan were farmers, but my interest was primarily to become a hot shot city desk reporter. Once I was given a job at the Bee on the metro desk, they told me that they’d hired too many new reporters, and half of us had to go. However, they said there was an opening in the newspaper’s ag division, and if I worked there until the probationary period was over, I could be reassigned to general reporting. I took the job, but by the time the probation period was ended, I found I enjoyed covering ag so much that I never asked to go back to the city side.”

T.J. joined Farm Progress as a California Farmer reporter, then became editor of the Western Farmer-Stockman. He has earned a reputation in the West as a strong source of direct seed information, and has affiliated Western Farmer-Stockman as the official magazine of the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association.

His wife, Sally, writes for the magazine and helps with bookwork concerning freelance writers from the eight western state arena which the magazine serves.

T.J. likes hiking and fishing, and dabbles in woodworking projects. He also enjoys gardening and photography.

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