News Release

Producers Encouraged to Evaluate New Risk Protection Options

BLACKFOOT, ID — USDA's Risk Management Agency has increased its subsidy on crop insurance for wheat and other crops for 2001, in effect reducing the premium growers must pay. Opting for the program will give Idaho growers who are facing extreme financial challenges, a chance to spread their risk exposure, which is very important and could be the difference between staying in business for another year and the alternative.

The Crop Revenue Coverage (CRC) on wheat for 2001 is $3.41 per bushel. Members of the PGI Executive Committee have evaluated the new CRC rates and would like to encourage all Idaho potato growers to take time out within the next week and contact your insurance company to see if the increased coverage could be beneficial for your operation.

We realize this is a very busy time for potato growers. However, we believe this program is worth some consideration. In some ways the CRC program is much the same as Multi-Peril Crop Insurance. Both have premiums subsidized by the federal government and both rely on your Actual Production History to establish yield expectations. What is different about CRC is price protection. CRC establishes a minimum guaranteed income per acre making it easy to see why some lenders consider CRC policies as preferred collateral. Once again, we realize this is a very busy time but we encourage you to take a few minutes and contact your insurance agent regarding this issue. The last day to sign up for the coverage is September 30, 2000.