Written by M. Sean High—Staff Attorney
On June 30, 2016, the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) published notice
in the Federal Register of a final rule completing “changes to the General
Administrative Regulations—Ineligibility for Programs under the Federal Crop
Insurance Act, the Catastrophic Risk Protection Endorsement, the Area Risk
Protection Insurance Regulations, and the Common Crop Insurance Regulations,
Basic Provisions” (81 FR 42453).
According to a press release issued by USDA’s Risk
Management Agency (RMA), the published final rule “completes provisions such as
enterprise units for irrigated and non-irrigated crops, adjustment in actual production
history to establish insurable yields, crop production on native sod, beginning
farmer and rancher provisions, coverage levels by practice, and the authority
to correct errors.” RMA stated that the changes issued under the final rule
were the result of the 2014 Farm Bill which mandated that USDA “make some
changes that would strengthen the safety net [the agency] provide[s] for
America’s farmers and ranchers.”
According to the Federal Register, USDA received 364
comments from 74 commenters (including academics, farmers, trade associations
and others) regarding an interim rule published July 1, 2014. As a result of these comments, USDA stated
that RMA made changes to the final rule dealing with native sod so as to
provide clarity regarding “an exception that allows producers to break up to
five acres of native sod and not receive reduced premium subsidy on coverage of
native sod acreage.” According to RMA, “[a]ll other provisions of the final
rule remain unchanged.
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