The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expanding insurance options for specialty and organic crop farmers, according to a statement from the department’s Risk Management Agency.

The changes, which take effect starting with the 2025 crop season, include adding institutional units covering organic farming practices and expanding the eligibility of institutional units to include many crops.

According to a report by AM Best, corporate units pool all insured crop acres in a county, rather than separating acres for insurance purposes. This structure can provide discounts on premiums because of the lower risk associated with geographic diversification. RMA noted that larger corporate units receive larger discounts because they present less risk.

The Department of Natural Resources is expanding the project units to include almonds, apples, and avocados in California; citrus in Arizona, California, and Texas; figs, macadamia nuts, pears, peaches, and walnuts. Project units will also be available for crops grown using organic practices, including alfalfa, almonds, apples, and avocados in California; cabbage, canola, and citrus in Arizona, California, and Texas; coarse grains, cotton, long-staple cotton, dry beans, dry peas, figs, fresh tomatoes, forage production, grass seed, macadamia nuts, millet, mint, mustard, pears, and potatoes in various states; and processing tomatoes, peaches, safflower, small grains, sunflower seeds, and walnuts.

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Non-adjacent parcels that qualify as optional units can now be included in the enterprise units. The scope of optional units based on organic farming practices will also be expanded to include all remaining crops where the insurance structure is available and the organic method is insurable.

Additionally, insurance coverage is being expanded to include younger almond trees, including those in their fifth year of leaf, while coverage options for canola growers in South Dakota and Michigan are also expanding. Sunburned nuts will now be eligible for compensation payments through quality adjustments.

The final rule also eliminates the requirement for a written agreement on new planted acreage, reducing administrative burdens on farmers and the delivery system.

Other changes include allowing compensation payments to be issued electronically under certain circumstances and streamlining the review process for “good agricultural practices.” Good agricultural practices are methods that allow a crop to reach maturity and produce at least the yield used to determine the production guarantee or insurance amount.

The new rules also clarify that producers must prove an insurance history for the annual forage crop and meet current double-cropping requirements to receive full no-plant payments. These payments cover crops that are not planted in the ground by the final planting date and meet other eligibility requirements.

The USDA Risk Management Division said these updates are part of several reviews and expansions planned this summer. Upcoming changes will include expanding the oyster policy and adding coverage options for grape growers, with the goal of better serving specialty crop producers and reaching a broader range of producers.

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