The year 2010 has already showed us a record breaking winter- who knows what the rest of the year will bring? Some experts see increased risks in the year ahead. The extent that the general economy may affect agriculture; increased volatility, perhaps in weather, commodity prices, energy costs, production, and profits. Many producers see the need to beef up their risk management plans this year. The cost of seed can be very expensive…and the ingredients in the bag don’t even include adequate and timely rains, without hail.

Producers who are interested in insuring many of their spring crops (corn, soybeans, grain sorghum, oats, processing beans, processing tomatoes, fresh market sweet corn, and forage seeding) need to contact a crop insurance agent as soon as possible to run quotes and apply for insurance.

The deadline for the above listed crops is Monday, March 15. (Note: crop insurance prices do not vary between agents; they are set federally.)

Producers who want to insure a crop not listed above have several options. FSA administers a program called NAP (Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program) that provides catastrophic coverage on a wide variety of uninsurable crops.

Most spring crops also have a deadline of March 15 under NAP as well, so contact your local FSA office before that date to sign up for NAP. Another option for uninsurable crops is to ask your crop insurance agent for a Written Agreement if the crop is insurable in another county. If you have at least three years of prior records, they can write a policy for you and send it to RMA for approval.

A last option for the producer who has many uninsurable crops is a policy called AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) or AGR-Lite. These policies insure your end of year revenue using tax documents.

This policy is useful for the producer who is more interested in insuring his bottom line rather than spot losses on individual crops. It covers nearly any agricultural product, including greenhouse, animals and animal products, direct marketing, organic, and more.

It is also a good way to cover every crop on your farm in order to stay eligible for the new crop disaster program SURE (which requires all crops on farm be covered under either crop insurance or NAP). The nearest deadline is March 15 for AGR-Lite, so contact a crop insurance agent quickly.

If you have any questions, or would like a list of insurance agents for New Jersey, contact the Garden State Crop Insurance Education Team toll-free at 1-800-308-2449, or visit http://salem.rutgers.edu/cropinsurance/ Click on “Email us your question” to send us a question online!

Remember, for quotes or to apply for crop insurance, you must work with an agent by March 15.

Insurable crop listings in 2009 included:

Cumberland: Apples, Barley, Corn, Forage Production, Forage Seeding, Fresh Market Sweet Corn, Nursery, Peaches, Potatoes, Processing Beans, Processing Tomatoes, Soybeans and Wheat.

Salem: Apples, Barley, Corn, Forage Production, Forage Seeding, Fresh Market Sweet Corn, Grain Sorghum, Nursery, Peaches, Potatoes, Processing Beans, Processing Tomatoes, Soybeans and Wheat.

Gloucester: Apples, Barley, Corn, Forage Production, Forage Seeding, Fresh Market Sweet Corn, Nursery, Peaches, Processing Tomatoes, Soybeans and Wheat.

Atlantic: Apples, Blueberries, Corn, Forage Production, Forage Seeding, Fresh Market Sweet Corn, Nursery, Peaches, Potatoes, and Soybeans.

Cape May: Corn, Forage Production, Forage Seeding, Fresh Market Sweet Corn, Nursery, Processing Beans, and Soybeans.