USDA announces farm bill supplemental crop coverage

As stipulated through the 2014 Farm Bill, farmers and ranchers will receive new crop insurance options that will strengthen and expand insurance coverage.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the new Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) will be available through the federal crop insurance program and set to begin with the 2015 crop year.  It is designed to help protect farmers and ranchers from the flux in the market and crop yields. The program will provide additional risk management options and will make crop insurance more affordable for beginner farmers.

SCO will be available for corn, cotton, grain sorghum, rice, soybeans, spring barley, spring wheat and winter wheat in selected counties for the 2015 crop year, according to USDA. Winter wheat growers will need to contact their crop insurance agents for eligibility and coverage timetable.

Risk Management Agency (RMA) will administer the SCO program. Information on SCO for 2015 winter and spring wheat is available on the RMA website.  RMA plans to make SCO more widely available by adding more counties and crops and is due to release a listing of selected counties for other commodities later this summer.