November 15 Sales Closing Date Approaches for USDA Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) Program

November 15 Sales Closing Date Approaches for USDA Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) Program New Mexico producers are reminded of the November 15 sales closing date for the Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) Program, administered by the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). The PRF program has become widely used by New Mexico producers in recent years. In fact, for 2017, the PRF Program covers over $84M in liability across more than 7M New Mexico acres. The PRF program is an area-based plan of insurance designed to give forage and livestock producers the ability to buy protection for losses of forage produced for haying and/or grazing. The program is based on a rainfall index approach for determining losses and triggering indemnities. The flexible program allows producers to personalize their policy by choosing at least two specific 2-month coverage intervals, a coverage level between 70 to 90 percent, and a productivity factor anywhere between 60 and 150 percent of the county base value. When applying for coverage, producers will also need to allocate the percentage of the total value for their operation. Program payment are not based on individual rain gauges or on a single local weather station. Online tools are available to assist producers in determining how well the PRF program correlated with their past forage production. Specifically, history for each grid and interval across covered areas can be accessed using decision support tools found on RMA’s PRF web page (http://www.rma.usda.gov/policies/pasturerangeforage/). The tools allow producers to see which years and coverage periods would have paid indemnities in past years based on hypothetical coverage levels in selected grids. Producers are strongly encouraged to use the available tools to help make purchase and coverage level decisions. Not all acres that are grazed need to be insured, but producers must have an insurable interest in the acres covered. An insurable interest, defined as the right to graze the property, must be documented. The PRF Program is available in the 48 contiguous states. Interested producers are encouraged to visit with their crop insurance agent to learn additional program details. An agent locator tool is also available on the RMA website (http://www.RMA.USDA.gov). To speak with a rancher who has analyzed and purchased this product, producers are encouraged to contact Brett Crosby, President of Wyoming-based Custom Ag Solutions (CAS), and Wyoming cow calf operator who is well versed in the complex risk management decisions facing livestock producers. Crosby can be reached at 307-548-9636. Custom Ag Solutions works with RMA and other partner organizations to educate producers about risk management and Federal crop insurance programs. More information about Federal crop insurance programs, including RMA’s Pasture, Rangeland, Forage Program, can be found at the RMA website, www.rma.usda.gov. To receive information by mail, call CAS at 877-227-8094. USDA, RMA, and CAS are equal opportunity providers.