Changes In Federal Crop Insurance Regulations Affect Montana Farmers

Changes in federal crop insurance regulations will prevent farmers in the region from collecting two full losses for crops planted on the same ground in a single crop year, a federal agriculture official said.

The changes put in place for the 2004 crop year address what is called “double cropping,” which essentially is planting two crops, such as winter wheat and spring wheat, on the same ground in a given crop year, said Dave Nickless, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency in Billings.

The office oversees federal crop insurance programs in the four-state region of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota.

In the past, for example, producers could submit claims for and collect losses on failed winter wheat crops and then insure, and possibly collect losses again, on spring wheat planted in the same fields, Nickless said.

But now, farmers would receive reduced indemnities on their first crops if they planted and insured another crop on the same ground and again submitted losses, he said.

If there were no losses on the second crop, farmers would receive the full indemnity for the first crop, he said.

Farmers also have the option of not insuring a second crop on the same ground, he said.

Nickless said he doubted the changes would have a huge effect on farmers in the region. Situations that have led to double cropping in Montana, where Nickless said the practice is not common, have included drought conditions, he said.

“I think most producers in our region, they’re looking to insure just one crop in a crop year because typically all you can get is one harvest,” he said.

Lola Raska, policy associate with the Montana Grain Growers Association, said the change seems to have been “pretty well accepted” by many producers.

“It’s going to have some effect on producers, but, in reality, that’s a fair way to do that,” Raska said, noting the move may also help reduce potential fraud.

But Brooks Dailey, president of Montana Farmers Union, said he has some concerns. Drought conditions still exist in the state, he said.

“We have to look at all the tools we have, and this is one tool that’s kept us, not making any money, but kept us breaking even in these drought years,” he said.

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Topics Legislation Agribusiness