Crop insurance deadline is Sept. 30
SUGARCANE CROP INSURANCE PURCHASE DEADLINE IS SEPT. 30
Over the past several years, the Louisiana Farm Bureau and the American Sugarcane League have been encouraging Louisiana sugarcane producers to purchase higher buy-up levels of crop insurance to improve risk management on their farms. A good reason to consider increasing your crop insurance buy-up coverage levels is that on average, Louisiana sugarcane experiences a large scale freeze event once every 17 years and it has been more than 17 years since our last big freeze. The other reason is that we cannot count on Congress to provide disaster assistance if we have a devastating crop loss.
Therefore, it is on our shoulders to provide our own protection and it's time to determine what Sugarcane APH Crop Insurance crop buy-up level we need to manage our crop production risk.
Important: September 30, 2017 is the Sales Closing Date deadline to purchase Sugarcane Crop Insurance to insure the 2018 sugarcane crop.
Here is another item to consider. For the first time this year, sugarcane producers also have the option of purchasing a Crop Replacement Endorsement (CRE) to cover the cost of replanting. The Crop Replacement Endorsement is an inexpensive endorsement that covers the cost of replanting of plant and first year stubble. The Crop Replacement Endorsement (CRE) is the last change to be implemented among the series of Sugarcane Crop Insurance changes from the Louisiana Farm Bureau and the American Sugarcane League that were approved by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation last year. The other changes approved was coverage for overwintering sugarcane if there was damage to the previous year’s harvestable crop, a reduction in the length of the allowable skip for loss appraisals from 36 to 15 inches and the addition of an 85% coverage level.
Michael A. Deliberto, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Farm Management and Agricultural Policy, LSU Ag Center, Dept. of Ag Economics and Agribusiness will be sending out an Excel based decision-making tool to help sugarcane producers decide on what Sugarcane APH Crop Insurance buy-up level to purchase. Dr. Deliberto’s decision-making tool will be sent to you by e-mail shortly.
If you have questions regarding this information, please contact Brian Breaux or Mike Deliberto.