USDA’s Risk Management Agency is authorizing emergency procedures as extreme drought conditions persist across the country. The agency is working with crop insurance companies to simplify the adjustment of losses and issue indemnity payments.
“We recognize the distress experienced by farmers and ranchers because of drought,” said Richard Flournoy, acting administrator, RMA. “These emergency procedures will authorize insurance companies to expedite the claims process, enabling them to plant a new crop or a cover crop.”
Companies can now accept delayed notices of loss in certain situations, streamline paperwork and reduce the number of required samples when crop damage is consistent. Farmers should contact their crop insurance agent as soon as any damage is spotted. Insurance companies must look at the damage before the crop acres are put to another use. Once it has been appraised and released, farmers can then cut the crop for silage, destroy it or plant a cover crop on that field.
More information on these emergency procedures is available on the RMA website. Get the full details from Flournoy in this Red River Farm Network story.
