Crop Insurance Newsletter - Fall 2014

Fall 2014 News, know-how and risk management updates...

CROPINSURANCE 2014 FARM BILL CHANGES– The 2014 Farm Bill brought about many positive changes for agricultural risk management. Program enhancements, new policies and increased subsidy opportunities are just a few of the many benefits.

With those changes come many questions. That is why GreenStone has made available two detailed handouts to provide you with more specific information related to the necessary decision between the Price Loss Coverage and Agricultural Risk Coverage, as well as the new Dairy Margin Protection program. Pick up a copy at your local GreenStone branch, request one from your crop insurance specialist, or get them online at www.greenstonefcs.com/publications.

Other notable crop insurance changes include: • The ability to choose separate coverage levels between different practices within the same crop. (For example: irrigated vs. non-irrigated) Farmers are also allowed to have separate enterprise units by crop practice.

• The creation of the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), which is an insurance policy designed to sit ‘on top’ of your existing coverage, and provides a layer of county-wide revenue protection.

• Expanded benefits to those who qualify as young, beginning farmers and ranchers. This includes a 10 percent increased subsidy

(!) Fruit Reminders

Nov. 20 is the 2015 fruit sales closing deadline to change Remember

your current coverage or take out a new policy for the 2015 crop year. Premiums are not billed to you until Aug. 15, 2015 and are due Sept. 30, 2015. Your current coverage will carry over for 2015 if you do not change anything in writing by Nov. 20, 2014. Jan. 15, 2014 is the acreage and yield reporting deadline for fruit. PLEASE REPORT ACRES AND PRODUCTION AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE! The County Transitional Yield (T-Yield) and 2015 prices have not been announced at this time. That information will be included in your renewal information later this year.

GreenStone FCS is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

on any of their Federal Crop Insurance Corporation policies (crop, livestock, etc.), as well as an increased yield adjustment benefit from 60 to 80 percent.

• Producers are allowed to exclude any annual product history (APH) year from their history where the average county yield was less than 50 percent of the county 10 year average. This will help mitigate any drop in APH from years where you experienced widespread yield loss.

Continued on page 2...

This Crop Insurance Newsletter is brought to you by your local GreenStone crop insurance team: Call us for a farm or office appointment to complete your paperwork today.

800-444-FARM

www.greenstonefcs.com

PREVENT PLANT–

If weather conditions prevent you from planting, you may qualify for a claim. If you have a prevent plant situation, a claim must be filed within 72 hours after the end of the late planting period, which varies by crop (See the back panel for deadlines). There is a minimum requirement for a prevent plant claim

2014 News Fresh Apple Reviews Please remember that your fresh apple policy can be singled out for a fresh review at any time during the year or at claims time.

You will be asked to prove that you have sold your apples as fresh and at what price they were sold. The requirement is that 50 percent or more were sold as fresh, at a fresh price, in at least one out of the last four years. Call us if you need more help regarding what information and documents can be submitted. If you cannot prove fresh sales, Risk Management Agency (RMA) requires that your apples be changed to processing for the current crop year.

...Farm Bill continued

of 20 percent of the unit or 20 acres, whichever is less. It is also important to note that failure of a spring crop to reach maturity is not a covered cause of loss for prevent plant claims.

For example, you can not claim prevent plant for 2015 wheat just because the 2014 soybean crop has not reached maturity.

• Producers who farm on highly erodible land or wetlands will be required to follow conservation compliance regulations or will be ineligible for federal subsidy on their crop insurance policy.

Compliance includes having an AD-1026 on file with your local Farm Service Agency office. If you are subject to this requirement, there is a good chance you are already in compliance. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates less than 2 percent of producers will need to take corrective action to bring themself into compliance.

• The creation of a whole-farm revenue policy for producers of specialty crops who have not had access to traditional crop insurance in the past.

If you have any questions about the Farm Bill and what these changes mean for your operation, contact your GreenStone crop insurance specialist today!

Alert! Before You Chop to be kept separate by unit Before chopping corn for silage, please first call and arrange for an appraisal.

Every effort will be made to have your crop appraised before you chop. Otherwise, you will be instructed on how to leave samples in your field for later evaluation.

CROP INS ALERT URANCE

www.gree nsto

nefcs.com

Co-mingled Production Please be aware that any production from 2013 that is being carried over into the 2014 harvest needs to be measured or marked by an adjuster prior to adding the current year’s production.

Added production needs

through bin markings. If Optional or Basic Units are being combined, the insured may mark the bin themselves.

Acreage and Production Reports Please keep in mind that it is the customer’s responsibility to report crop that was planted in each section, the planting date and your percent share of that crop. Reporting your crop accurately and double checking everything is very important.

Corrections or changes cannot be made after the reporting deadline. If you have any questions, just contact your local GreenStone crop insurance team and we will be more than willing to help.

Forage Production If you think you may be facing a forage production loss, make sure to contact

your specialist to file a claim.

If you did not have forage insurance for the 2014 crop year and are interested for 2015, the sales close date is the same as wheat, Sept. 30.

End of Insurance Period Insurance ends on each unit or part of unit at the earliest of: • Total destruction of the crop • Harvest • Final adjustment of loss • Applicable calendar date in the crop or special provisions • Abandonment • Or, as otherwise specified in the crop provisions

Provisions require a notice of loss (NOL) within 72 hours of damage discovery but no later than 15 days after the end of insurance period. Revenue losses must be submitted no later than 45 days after release of harvest price.

Specialized for Crop Insurance Customers…My Access You may have heard that GreenStone’s new portal, My Access, hit the cyber waves less than a month ago. My Access is a secure, single sign-in system that brings together Online Banking with a series of value added tools. The simplicity of the user-based solutions within this portal make managing information, accounts and communication with GreenStone more convenient than ever.

ENROLL Today – We will provide customized enrollment instructions to each customer with your crop insurance renewal applications.

Or, you can get started today: 1. Go to www.greenstonefcs.com and select ‘My Access’ under ‘Account Login’ and click ‘Enroll Now’ 2. Enter your name and email; then click on the link in the email you will receive 3. Create a username and password; provide answers to challenge questions; create your own authentication phrase and select an image; and accept the Terms of Service 4. Select ‘I am a customer, let me identify myself’ and enter your ‘Personal Information’

What you may not be aware of is the specific benefits you can experience. GreenStone’s crop insurance customers will now be able to view your future confirmations of coverage, production report, schedule of insurance, and assignment of indemnity. These documents will all be made available to you within the My Documents tab in My Access.

5. Under ‘Account Information’ you may complete enrollment using your GreenStone loan information. If you do not currently have a loan with GreenStone, use the ‘Passphrase’ option, however you will need to call us to get that unique information.

Why wait? Enroll today and begin experiencing the online benefits with GreenStone.

DAIRY MARGIN PROTECTION PROGRAM– The 2014 Farm Bill also brought about changes to programs for dairy producers. The Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program was discontinued, and replaced with a new Dairy Margin Protection Program (DMPP). The DMPP allows a producer to choose a desired margin level of coverage (between $4 and $8), using the US all-milk price, as well as USDA National Agricultural Statistic Service (NASS) figures for corn, soybean meal and alfalfa. The cost of the program is fixed depending on the amount of milk you cover, and your desired margin. The DMPP program is similar to the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy (LGM-Dairy) policy that has been available through

GreenStone since 2008, but the most important thing to note is that a producer cannot participate in both programs simultaneously. We have made available a DMPP informational handout that is available at your local branch or from your crop insurance

specialist to help provide additional information on the pros and cons of both programs. If you are considering the DMPP I would recommend learning about LGM as well; both programs have the potential to work well for dairy producers.

3515 West Rd. East Lansing, MI 48823

CROPINSURANCE NEWS Inside this issue: - 2014 Farm Bill Changes - Fruit Reminder - Prevent Plant

- My Access - Managing Risk - Important News and Dates

WELCOME

to the Fall 2014 issue of the GreenStone Crop Insurance Newsletter. With fall harvest season upon us, and with wheat and forage planting right around the corner, there are some key points to remember as we begin the 2015 crop insurance year.

Important Dates: Sept. 26

September LGM sales close date

Nov. 5

End of insurance period (loss reporting deadline) - apples

Sept. 30

Wheat and forage production sales close date

Nov. 14

Wheat production reports due

Sept. 30

End of insurance period (loss reporting deadline) - peach and blueberry

Nov. 15

Wheat and forage acreage reports due

Nov. 15

Final claim reporting date for sugar beets

Sept. 30*

Wheat final plant date - Wisconsin

Nov. 20

Fruit sales close date and end of insurance period - grape

Oct.15

Forage underwriting report signature due date

Nov. 21

November LGM sales close date

Oct. 25*

Wheat final plant date - Michigan

Oct. 24

October LGM sales close date

Dec. 10

End of insurance period (loss reporting deadline) for spring crops

Oct. 31

End of insurance period (loss reporting deadline) for fall crops

Dec. 26

December LGM sales close date

Oct. 31

Final claim reporting date for dry beans

Jan. 15 Fruit acreage/production reports and pre-acceptance worksheets

*Dates can vary by county. Consult your crop insurance specialist.

www.greenstonefcs.com