By Andi Anderson
USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) is amending the sugarbeet crop insurance policy, allowing producers the option for early harvest adjustments starting the 2024 crop year. This modification, announced in the Federal Register, addresses feedback received from sugarbeet growers.
RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger highlighted the agency's responsiveness to producers' concerns, making the early harvest adjustment an optional feature within the policy. This flexibility aims to cater to the unique risk management needs of individual operations.
The adjustment, previously enforced since 2018 due to requests from producers, compensated for the impact on the Actual Production History (APH) databases caused by early sugarbeet harvesting. Early-harvested beets tend to be smaller and contain less sugar, impacting the net pounds of raw sugar recorded in the producer's APH database for that crop year.
The recent rule revision empowers producers to opt into the early harvest adjustment, allowing them to select this option by the sales closing date for the 2024 crop year. Producers will also specify which years from their APH database will include the adjusted early harvest yields.
For further guidance, producers are advised to reach out to their crop insurance agent or connect with Farm Bureau Crop Insurance Specialists and multi-line agents provided for assistance.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-luiscarlosjimenezi
Categories: Michigan, Crops, Sugar Beets