There’s less than a week left for Florida growers to remain eligible for crop insurance. It’s especially important for other classes of growers who can now qualify.
According to the federal Agricultural Act of 2014 commonly referred to as the Farm Bill, all growers must complete the proper paperwork by this coming Monday to ensure they remain eligible for crop insurance to protect against the loss of crops.
“The Farm Bill that was passed last year included new requirements for producers to provide information to the federal government if they were getting crop subsidies for their insurance,” said Florida Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Erin Gillespie. “And, so, this paperwork is due on June 1st, and that’s for growers--whether they’ve already gotten their insurance or whether they will be applying for insurance over the coming year if they want to get a subsidy for that insurance, they must file the paperwork by June 1st.”
And, Florida Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Erin Gillespie says this also applies to other groups of producers—who didn’t qualify before.
“This does include specialty products, specialty commodities, like fruits and vegetables and nursery producers which were previously not required to fill out the paperwork,” she added. “So, if a producer is not sure whether they have to file this paperwork or not, they should definitely check out the USDA website or talk to their crop insurance specialist to make sure because if they missed the June 1st deadline, then they would have a problem getting that subsidy.”
For more information, visit your local U.S. Agriculture Department Service Center or visit www.rma.USDA.gov.
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