Small farmers who sell their products locally are eligible for a new micro-farm policy, said the Risk Management Agency, which oversees the federally subsidized crop insurance system. The policy, which simplifies recordkeeping and covers post-production costs, is available for 2022 crops.
“USDA is focused on supporting local and regional food systems, and Micro Farm is one more example of how we’re helping agricultural producers with farms of all shapes and sizes to manage their unique operations and risk,” said RMA administrator Marcia Bunger on Tuesday.
Micro Farm is offered through the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection policy and is available to producers with operations that earn an average allowable revenue of $100,000 or less. RMA said its research found that 85 percent of producers who sell their products locally have less than $75,000 in gross sales. The agency said the new policy “minimizes underwriting and recordkeeping requirements, and producers will not have to report expenses and individual commodities.”