Risk management options expanding with greater enterprise unit possibilities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding its insurance coverage options for specialty crops and other actual production history (APH) crop programs. Through its Risk Management Agency (RMA), it will expand the availability of enterprise units to crops where they were previously unavailable, giving agricultural producers greater options to manage their risk.

An enterprise unit allows a producer to insure all acres of the insured crop in the county together, as opposed to other unit structures that separate the acreage for insurance. Enterprise units are attractive to producers due to lower premium rates offered to recognize the lower risk associated with the geographic diversification. In general, the larger the enterprise unit, the lesser the risk, and the greater the enterprise unit discount.

“We want to make sure we are giving the nation’s agricultural producers the strongest risk management tools possible – and one of those is flexibility,” said Marcia Bunger, Administrator for the Risk Management Agency. “This expansion of enterprise units gives producers more choices for how they can protect their operations and themselves best. That is our ultimate goal.”

This furthers RMA’s efforts to improve and expand the insurance program for spe-

BILLY WILL S AUCTION W/GUEST CONSIG NORS

634 MORRISON LANE POTOMAC, MT OFF HWY 200

SEPT. 16, 2023 @ 10AM FOLLOW OUR www.weaverauctions24.com

JD 690C DELIMBER

‘81 CASE 2470 TRACTION KING (5K HRS )

CASE 1070 AGRI KING (4K HRS)

STEIGER PANTHER ST310 (10 K HRS)

‘95 IH 9300 W/CAT 3406 REBUILT 65K

‘99 TRI-AXLE CORN PUP

JD 2355N, JD 2040, JD 420 TRIKE

IH 784, IH 850 TRACTORS

OLIVER 1655 70 HP

IH 710 24’ DISC

NH 664 BALER, NET/T WINE

JD 535, T WINE ONLY

AC BALER & CHISEL PLOW

AC SIDE DELIVERY RAKE

3306 CHISEL PLOW

HIMASTER 900 LOADER

‘91 3/4T DIESEL W/100 GAL TANK FORD 1/2T W/30’ BOOMS (300 GAL) 3000 GAL W ATER TANK

FIRE PUMPER 100 GAL TANK

JD HOE DRILLS 7” & 10” SPACING

JD 5-BOTTOM PLOW W/20” SHOVELS cialty crops as required by the 2018 Farm Bill. Moreover, this expansion also meets producer requests for enterprise units for other APH crop insurance programs. The initial set of targeted crops enjoyed this new option when it became effective on June 30, 2023. RMA plans to expand to dozens more specialty and other APH crop programs with these benefits in the coming months.

STOCK TRAILER , DUMP TRAILER 8YD, FUEL TANKS,FIBERFORM BOAT, ELECTRIC FENCING SUPPLIES, TOOLS, & MUCH MORE!

“This expansion of enterprise units provides more producers the same options for discounted insurance coverage as row crops,” Bunger added.

The following crops will have enterprise units available beginning with the 2024 crop year:

Alfalfa seed

Cultivated wild rice

Forage production

Mint*

Onions*

Potatoes* (Enterprise units will be available in California for the 2025 crop year)

* Denotes specialty crop

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at the RMA Agent Locator. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at rma.usda.gov or by contacting your RMA Regional Office.

Nurturing a summertime staple

Summertime is synonymous with fresh berries, and there may be no better place to be on a sunny day – besides the beach – than a berry-picking patch.

Berry production is a $6 billion industry in the United States, and Virginia has been become a key contributor with a suitable climate and soil types for growing blueberries and blackberries, in particular.

As part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are testing best practices for growing blackberries and new methods to utilize ones that are quality-compromised.

Experts in the Virginia Tech Flavor Lab in the Department of Food Science and Technology are partnering with those in the Small Fruit Research and Extension Program at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center to develop a new trellis system for blackberry production and produce beverage recipes for blackberries that may be “past their prime.”

“Virginia blackberry growers struggle with the handling and utilization of quality-compromised blackberry fruits,” said Yun Yin, a flavor chemist and assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology. “Blackberry beverage products, such as kombucha, will be a good revenue source for growers.

However, traditional methods of making kombucha, a fermented tea, require expensive equipment and a lot of time and effort, Yin said. To make the process easier, the research team will develop easy beverage recipes as value-added products to sell at different market venues. The approach is expected to increase farmers’ revenue from appropriately growing and utilizing blackberries.

Jayesh Samtani, a small fruit production specialist at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, will oversee the growing methods.

The project, formally titled “A New Way of Growing and Utilizing Blackberry: from Farms to Bottles,” will do the following:

Develop a new trellis system for blackberry production suitable for small farms and evaluate the fruit yield, quality, and chemical composition.

Build straightforward training fliers for this new growing method and distribute to regional producers through Virginia Cooperative Extension efforts.

Develop blackberry-based beverages from quality-compromised fruits using easy recipes.

The project is expected to be completed by September 2024.