Agricultural News
Canola Producers Need to Consider Crop Insurance Soon, Agent Says
Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:06:39 CDT
With a very successful 2012 canola crop in the bin, interest is growing among producers to join the club and plant canola in 2013. One of the issues prospective canola producers will need to consider is obtaining crop insurance.
Canola is not currently listed as a crop that can automatically be covered by crop insurance except in only seven counties in Oklahoma. Bambi Sidwell of the Sidwell Insurance Agency in Piedmont says insurance is available, but it involves submitting the right paperwork in a timely fashion. She said producers in counties that are not automatically approved for crop insurance on canola need a written agreement with the RMA so that a crop insurance policy can be written. She says farmers who think they might like to grow canola for the 2013 crop year need to start the process now.
"We are starting a little earlier this year because there is planned to be a lot more acres of canola planted than there have been in previous years. And those written agreements do take multiple weeks to get approved by the RMA before the producer knows if they'll be able to insure their canola crop for 2013 or not."
Sidwell said the deadline for applications to the RMA is August 31st, but farmers should start the process as early as possible.
"Typically they do not have to be in until August 31st, but with our small planting window, September 10th to October 10th, if you wait until August 31st to do those written agreements, they might not be approved until you would have already had to put the canola in the ground."
Only seven counties in northwest Oklahoma have been approved for crop insurance by the RMA and Sidwell said there won't be any more approved for the 2013 crop year, so most producers will need to pursue crop insurance through a written agreement.
"In order to do a written agreement you do have to have three years of what they call similar crop history, that's wheat, oats, barley, rye or canola. Three years in that county you're going to plant the canola and then we can write a written agreement we can send to the RMA," Sidwell said.
"If you know you want to have insurance before you buy the seed, I would definitely get a head start on it right now."
There is no cost to seek the approval and the producer can accept or decline the policy once it's approved by the RMA. Without the written agreement, though, no insurance is possible, Sidwell said.
For more information on crop insurance for canola, you can access the Sidwell Insurance website by clicking here.
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