USDA Expands Insurance Options for Specialty and Organic Growers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding crop insurance options for specialty and organic growers beginning with the 2025 crop year. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is expanding coverage options by allowing enterprise units by organic farming practice, adding enterprise unit eligibility for several crops, and making additional policy updates. This is the first of several announcements this summer. These expansions and other improvements build on other recent RMA efforts to better serve specialty crop producers and reach a broader group of producers. “The Risk Management Agency is excited to expand coverage options for specialty and organic growers including the availability of enterprise and optional units for many producers,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “Expanding our coverage options gives producers more opportunities to manage their risks. We will continue to build on our work through future announcements later this summer.” The following changes will be made beginning with the 2025 crop year:

• Enterprise and Optional Units:
  • Expand Enterprise Units (EU) to almonds, apples, avocado (California), citrus (Arizona, California, and Texas), figs, macadamia nuts, pears, prunes, and walnuts.
  • Allow non-contiguous parcels of land that qualify for Optional Units (OU) to also qualify for EU.
  • Allow EUs by organic farming practice for alfalfa seed, almonds, apples, avocado (California), cabbage, canola, citrus (Arizona, California and Texas), coarse grains, cotton, ELS cotton, dry beans, dry peas, figs, fresh market tomatoes, forage production, grass seed, macadamia nuts, millet, mint, mustard, pears, potatoes (northern, central, and southern), processing tomatoes, prunes, safflower, small grains, sunflower seed, and walnuts.
  • Expand OUs by organic practice to all remaining crops where OUs are available, and the organic practice is insurable.
• Walnut Quality Adjustment: Allow sunburned damaged walnuts to be eligible for indemnity payments through quality adjustment.
• Almond Leaf Year: Expand insurance coverage to younger trees by including trees in their fifth year after being set out.
• Processing Bean End of Insurance Period: Extend insurance coverage in Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey by an additional 16 days.
• Canola: Expand insurance for canola into South Dakota and Michigan.

These revisions come through the Expanding Options for Specialty and Organic Growers Final Rule published today by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC). This Final Rule will update the Common Crop Insurance Policy Basic Provisions, Area Risk Protection Insurance Basic Provisions, and includes changes to individual Crop Provisions. The enterprise unit availability will continue to be rolled out throughout the year with each crop’s contract change date and RMA will continue to evaluate expanding EUs to additional crops. Additional changes in the June 30 Final Rule include:

• New Breaking Acreage:
  • Reduce administrative burdens on growers and the delivery system by removing written agreement requirements on new breaking acreage.
  • Reduce coverage penalties on perennial specialty crop producers and producers of intensively managed crops, such as alfalfa, when they move to row crop production. This allows for a seamless transition with out losing crop insurance coverage.
• Assignment of Indemnity: Provide flexibility for an indemnity payment to be issued via automated clearing house (ACH) or other electronic means when these methods do not allow for multiple payees.
• Good Farming Practices (GFP): Streamline and shorten the FCIC CFP reconsideration process by closing the administrative file following FCIC's initial GFP determination.
• Double Cropping and Annual Forage: Clarify a producer must prove insurance history for the annual forage crop and meet the current double cropping requirements to receive a full prevented planting payment.

RMA continues to explore ways to improve risk management tools for specialty crop producers and will be announcing additional program enhancements later this summer. Some of those improvements include:

• Expanding the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) to walnuts and citrus crops and increasing premium support to be consistent with the Supplement Coverage Option.
• Releasing new Organic Practice Guidelines to producers for the 2025 crop year. These guidelines are to help producers report planted or perennial acreage insured under a certified organic or transitional practice

 More Information
This announcement further advances USDA’s recently announced Specialty Crops Competitiveness Initiative, a Department-wide effort to increase the competitiveness of specialty crops products in foreign markets, enhance domestic marketing, and improve production and processing practices.

Bureau Increases Water Allocation to 50%

This week, the Bureau of Reclamation announced another increase in the Central Valley Project 2024 water supply allocation for south-of-Delta contractors.  While all north-of-Delta Central Valley Project contractors are currently at 100% of their supplies, south-of-Delta agricultural contractors are being increased from 40% to 50%.  All other Central Valley Project contract allocations remain the same per the March 22 water supply update. Initial contract allocations were announced on Feb. 21 and updated in March and April.  “With the current and forecasted conditions that factor into Central Valley Project allocations, in particular, a greater than expected rate of exports during the month of June, we are pleased to be able to provide an additional increase to south-of-Delta agricultural contractors,” said California-Great Basin Regional Director Karl Stock.

Association Testifies at PM2.5 Plan Hearing

Association President/CEO Roger A. Isom and Director of Technical Services Christopher McGlothlin both testified at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Governing Board Meeting where the latest State Implementation Plan (SIP) for Attaining the Federal PM2.5 Ambient Air Quality Standard.  This plan is a far reaching plan that will include measures for reducing emissions from low dust almond harvesters, require more conservation management plan measures on farms, especially ones that address windblown dust on fallowed fields, and potential new requirements for irrigation pump engines.  Isom commented on the need to base any new measures on actual scientific research and measurements and only focus on those measures that actually move the needle.  Isom also commented on the need for incentives to assist in these efforts  and warned the board of the impending disaster with the lack of electric infrastructure.  Director of Technical Services McGlothlin responded to some of the environmental justice activists who criticized the District for not going far enough and wanting to be more restrictive.  While many of the activists criticized the plan as being a mere extension, McGlothlin pointed out that many within the agricultural industry were stepping up to meet the constantly changing regulations.  Regulations such as updated control efficiencies for Boilers, Roasters and Process Heaters as well as voluntarily transitioning older tractors out for lower emitting equipment on a quicker timeline.  McGlothlin also highlighted the fact that the Air District already has the toughest regulations in the country, and has been able to achieve tightening air quality standards with the assistance of industry stepping up to do its part.

Agreement Reached to Reform Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)

After many months of discussions, an apparent agreement has been reach on reforming the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA).  The agreement comes after months of discussions between the Newsom Administration, legislative leaders, labor advocates and a coalition of businesses.  The agreement will be introduced in legislation.  If passed by the Legislature, it would reform PAGA to ensure workers retain a strong tool to bring forth labor claims and receive fair compensation, while limiting the shakedown lawsuits that hurt employers and employees. The deadline for initiatives to be withdrawn from the November 2024 ballot is June 27, 2024.

The following are the core elements of the reform package:

• Employee Share of Penalty
  • Increases share employees receive from any penalty from 25% to 35%.
• Standing
  • Requires the employee (plaintiff) to personally experience the alleged violations brought in a claim.
  • Alleged violations must have occurred within the last year (presently, there is no time limitation).
• Penalty
  • Caps Penalties: For employers who proactively take steps to comply with the Labor Code before receiving a notice, the maximum penalty that can be awarded is 15 percent of the applicable penalty amount.
  • Caps Penalties: For employers who take steps to fix policies and practices after receiving a PAGA notice, the maximum penalty that can be awarded is 30 percent of the applicable penalty amount.
  • Reduces the maximum penalty where the alleged violation was brief or where it is a wage statement violation that did not cause confusion or economic harm to the employee (i.e. misspelling of company name or forgetting to add “Inc.” on the pay statement).
  • Levels the playing field for employers who pay weekly by ensuring a penalty is adjusted. Presently, such employers are penalized at twice the amount because the penalty accrues on a per pay period basis.
  • Addresses derivative claims.
  • Creates a new penalty ($200 per pay period) if an employer acted maliciously, fraudulently, or oppressively.
• Employer Right to Cure
  • Expands which Labor Code sections can be cured, so employees are made whole quickly.
  • Protects small employers by providing a more robust right to cure process through the state labor department (Labor and Workforce Development Agency) to reduce litigation and costs.
  • Provides an opportunity for early resolution in court for larger employers.
• Strengthening Enforcement Agency
  • The Administration will pursue a trailer bill to give the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) the ability to expedite hiring and filling vacancies to improve and expedite enforcement of employee labor claims.
• Judicial Discretion (Manageability)
  • Codifies that a court may limit both the scope of claims and evidence presented at trial.
• Injunctive Relief

Allows for injunctive relief.