Sept. 30 Deadline For Wheat And Oat Producers To Buy Crop Insurance
PINE BLUFF, ARK.
Sept. 30 is the deadline for Arkansas growers of winter wheat and oats to purchase crop insurance for the 2015 crop year. It is also the deadline for insured growers to make any policy changes, such as adjusting their level of coverage or to cancel their insurance.
Producers who do nothing will have the same level of coverage they had in 2014. All cancellations must be done in writing.
“With severe storms and flooding becoming more common, producers should seriously consider using crop insurance to help offset crop losses from natural disasters,” says Dr. Henry English, director, Small Farm Program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He also reminds farmers that flooding in late June of 2014 in East Arkansas resulted in $35.6 million in crop losses with the soybean crop hardest hit with $28.4 million and rice at $5.6 million.
The federal crop insurance program is designed to help farmers recover some portion of expected income in case of crop loss or failure due to natural disasters which include drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, high water, storms landslides, mudslides, fires, floods or explosions.
Producers should check with their crop insurance agent for specific details for the 2015 crop year. If policies are not available in a particular county, producers should ask an agent if they are eligible for coverage through a written agreement. ∆