The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently designed a new and simplified insurance policy for agricultural producers with small-scale operations.
The Micro Farm policy, offered through Whole-Farm Revenue Protection, is geared towards producers that sell their products locally, a USDA press release said.
“USDA is focused on supporting local and regional food systems, and Micro Farm is one more example of how we’re helping agricultural producers with farms of all shapes and sizes to manage their unique operations and risk,” Marcia Bunger, Administrator for USDA’s Risk Management Agency, said in the release.
Micro Farm is available to producers who earn average allowable revenue of $100,000 or less from their operations, the release said. Carryover insureds are allowed an average revenue of $125,000 or less. Micro Farm participants will be eligible for all coverage levels, allowing producers to purchase 80% and 85% levels without additional paperwork.
“Micro Farm minimizes underwriting and recordkeeping requirements, and producers will not have to report expenses and individual commodities,” the release said. “Producers can include post-production activities as revenue, such as washing and packaging commodities or value-added products like jam.”
The plan is starting in the 2022 crop year with closing dates on Jan. 31, Feb. 28 and March 15, depending on the county, the release said.
