WHAT'S NEW FOR 2023

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Provides area-based coverage for a portion of the deductible of your underlying policy, similar to the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), but at a higher coverage level. ECO is an optional endorsement to supplement your underlying policy. 

• Subsidized at 44%. 
• Choose a coverage band option:
  • 86% to 95% (9% coverage band)
  • 86% to 90% (4% coverage band) 
• Percentage of Coverage from 50% - 100%, in 1% increments. 
• Uses same SCO figures for expected and final area yields, projected and harvest prices, and payment factors. 
• ARC or PLC participation has no impact on eligibility.

The Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) is a county-level revenue-based or yield-based optional endorsement that covers a portion of losses not covered by the same crop's underlying crop insurance policy. 

• Subsidized at 65%.
• Coverage up to 86% 
  • Kicks in where underlying coverage stops.
• PLC participation has no impact on eligibility.
• Crops for which ARC (FSA Agriculture Risk Coverage) is elected are NOT eligible for the SCO endorsement.

• Crops including grasses, legumes and forbs for seasonal cover and other conservation purposes. 
• Over-seeding and inter-seeding is a management practice of planting one or more cover crop species into an existing or established crop. 
• According to the Guidelines, seeding a cover crop into an existing crop (e.g., corn or soybeans) at a time that will not impact the yield or harvest of the insured crop. 
• Over-seeding/inter-seeding a cover crop into an already insured grain crop does not affect its insurability. 
• Insurance attached to the main crop at the time of planting. However, any damage to the insured crop caused by planting of the cover crop would not be covered and uninsured cause of loss appraisals would be applied to the insured crop when determining any indemnity payment. 
• You should take care not to harm the insured crop when over-seeding/inter-seeding a cover crop by doing so at an appropriate time and in an appropriate manner that will not impact the yield or harvest of the insured crop. 
• If the main crop and cover crop are planted in a manner that does not allow separate agronomic maintenance and harvest of the insured crop, then it is considered inter-planted and not insurable. 
  • If it doesn’t meet this definition, then it may be over-seeded/inter-seeded and is insurable. 
• Rye flown on corn or soybeans as a cover crop. Rye does not interfere with growth/development of the corn/beans and is insurable. 
• Corn planted on acreage following a crop that has been prevented from being planted will not be considered a cover crop.

An option that allows a single EU to span two contiguous counties but cannot cross state lines. 

• One county must qualify for EU on its own, while the second county must NOT qualify for EU on its own. 
  • To qualify for EU, you must meet the 20/20 rule. 
    • Two or more sections of land where both sections have either 20 acres or more; or 20% of the practice’s acres in each section. 
• Coverage elections must be identical on MCEU policies.  

Allows for an Enterprise Unit (EU) for one practice and Optional Unit (OU) or Basic Unit (BU) for the other practice OR EU for both practices.
WHEN IT DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR EI:

• DISCOVERED: On or before Acreage Reporting Date
  • Elected Two EU's:  One EU*; or BU or OU*
  • Elected One EU and One BU/OU:  BU or OU*
• DISCOVERED: After Acreage Reporting Date
  • Elected Two EU's:  One EU*; or BU 
  • Elected One EU and One BU/OU:  BU

  If defaulting to BU/OU, it would be applied to BOTH practices.*If it would qualify 

• YOU MUST NOTIFY US PRIOR TO REPLANTING!!
• Now requires you to replant THROUGH the 10th day after FPD (Final Plant Date)
  • Corn: 
    • Final Plant Date is May 25th (for most). 
    • Must replant through June 4th
    • Late Planting Period is 20 days for corn.
  • Soybeans
    • Final Plant Date is June 10th. 
    • Must replant through June 20th
    • Late Planting Period is 25 days for soybeans

+ 5% is an added option;

• Corn has a 55% prevented planting coverage factor;
• Soybeans, grain sorghum and wheat remain at 60%
• PP can only be claimed with an insurable cause of loss.
• The acreage must, in at least 1 of the 4 most recent crop years immediately preceding the current year, have been PLANTED, HARVESTED & INSURED all in the same year.
• The Maximum number of acres that can be declared as PP cannot exceed the number of acres certified/reported to that crop within the last 4 years. There is a factor for added land.
• 20/20 Guidelines must be met. 20 Acres or 20% of the unit’s total acres.
• Must report your intent to not plant to your agent within 72 hours of making that decision.
• Must timely certify those acres as prevented planting with the FSA.
• A cover crop MAY BE hayed, grazed, or cut for silage, haylage and baleage WITHOUT a reduction in a prevented planting payment. 
• A payment reduction WILL APPLY if the cover crop is harvested at any time for GRAIN or SEED. 
• Payments will no longer be reduced on acreage that is prevented from being planted and later cash rented.

PP & COVER CROP:

• Cover Crop Planted BEFORE the FPD or during the LPP of the Prevented Crop*
  • IF IT IS:  Hayed/Grazed/Cut for Silage, Haylage, or Baleage - Pay 100%
  • IF IT IS:  Harvested for grain or seed at any time, by the insured or another person - Pay 0%
• Cover Crop Planted AFTER the LPP  (FPD if no LPP is applicable) of the Prevented Crop
  • IF IT IS:  Hayed/Grazed/Cut for Silage, Haylage - Pay 100%
  • IF IT IS:  Harvested for grain or seed at any time, by the insured or another person - Pay 35%**

*Example:  Fall-Planted Cover Crop; Spring PP Crop

**Provided the crop claimed as a cover crop is not the prevented crop (refer to paragraph 41) and all other policy provisions are met.

PP & VOLUNTEER CROP:

• IF IT IS:  Hayed/Grazed/Cut for Silage, Haylage, or Baleage - Pay 100%
• IF IT IS:  Harvested for grain or seed at any time, by the insured or another person - Pay 0%

• No indemnity is paid for these losses
• A claim must be turned in for the company to declare the acres as UUF
• Once approved, the damaged acres and production will not be included in the APH database
• MUST keep UUF production and undamaged acres production separate

Have until the end of the insurance period to obtain certification. However, documentation must be provided that certification has been requested by Acreage Reporting Date.  

NEW BREAKING is defined by RMA as:

• Acreage that has not been planted & harvested or insured in at least one of the three previous crop years. This includes insured acreage that was prevented from being planted.
• Acreage where the only crop planted & harvested in one of the three previous crop years was a cover crop, hay or forage.

**NEW BREAKING REMINDERS: 

• Initial guarantee is 80% of the County T-yield
• Acres & Production will be reported to a separate unit for the first year it is broken out.

• Acreage that has no record of being tilled for the production of an annual crop on or before February 7, 2014, and on which the plant cover is composed principally of native grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, or shrubs suitable for grazing or browsing.
• When more than five acres are tilled in the county, cumulatively across crop years!
• 5 acres or less planted on native sod: Program indicator code de minimus: DM
• Once producer plants more than 5 acres of native sod in a county across crop years: NS 
• When does the 'accumulation' of acres begin?
  • RMA cannot cumulate native sod acreage considered de minimis prior to 2017

**NATIVE SOD REMINDERS: 

• Reduced benefits – during the first 4 crop years of planting:
  • Producer’s guarantee is established at 65% of the T-Yield
  • No yield substitution is allowed
  • Producer’s premium subsidy is reduced by 50 percentage points
  • Acres & Production will be reported to a separate unit for the first four years it is broken out.

• Simple Average T-yield uses Adjusted Yield (YA only) NOT Approved Yield (YA, TA, YE)
  • If the acreage being added is less than 2,000 acres: 
    • APH will be established using the higher of the following:  (1) County T-Yield or (2) SA T-Yield
  • If the acreage being added is greater than or equal to 2,000 acres:  
    • APH will be established using the County T-Yield
• Land coming out of a USDA program (CRP, etc.) will be reported to a separate database guaranteed at 100% of the county T-yield for the first year it is out of CRP. After the first year, if there is other cropland within the section, the unit will be combined.

5% Tolerance Calculation on actual yields. 

*If Yield Tolerance Not Met – if any actual yield is found to be overstated by > 5%, then not eligible for the exception for that crop year and Assigned Yield procedures apply. This will impact ALL databases with acres that year, not just the database that exceeded the limit. Loss of all optional units across all databases of that crop.  

*Not Subject to Tolerance – If insured can prove that at the time of the production report they did report according to acceptable records, but at the time of the review more accurate records were used, then they won’t be subject to yield tolerance rules. Example – production originally reported from bin measurement, but settlement sheet was used at time of the review. 

• Replant - must meet 20/20 rule to qualify for payment.
• Prevent Plant - must be submitted within 72 hours of Final Plant Date or when planting ends during Late Planting Period. Must meet 20/20 rule to qualify.
• Production - must be submitted within 72 hours of initial discovery of damage but no later than 15 days after End Of Insurance Period (EOIP), which is the earlier of: harvest of crop, destruction of crop or December 10th. Your claim will be rejected if reported greater than 60 days after EOI Period.
• Revenue Only - must be submitted with 45 days of Harvest Price announcement.

• Only available in 13 counties in Nebraska: Antelope, Boone, Burt, Cedar, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Knox, Madison, Pierce, Stanton, Thurston and Wayne.
• Offered to producers who "SPLIT-APPLY" nitrogen rather than use a single application.
• Only available on NI corn and must be added at SCD.
• Available coverage ranges:  75-95%
• A loss occurs when the 2nd application cannot be applied due to an insured Cause of Loss (COL).

Must report uninsurable acres and production