A deadline for crop insurance eligibility must be extended so farmers can make critical decisions affecting their livelihoods, said the president of the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB).
“Wet weather has precipitated a risk management crisis for many Texas farmers,” said TFB President Russell Boening. “Many farmers are having serious difficulty getting crops planted. Without extending the deadlines, many could face the crop year with no risk protection,” according to a TFB news release.
Farmers have been unable to plant their crops because a very wet winter and spring have kept them out of the fields, he said. Though that remains true in many parts of the state, it’s a particular problem in large swaths of Central and South Texas, where even more rain is predicted.
The Risk Management Agency (RMA) sets planting deadlines for crop insurance eligibility, Boening explained. The RMA deadline starts as early as March 31 in South Texas.
“We respectfully request an extension of the RMA’s crop insurance final planting dates for crops in areas of the state affected by these weather issues,” he wrote in a March 19 letter to RMA.
Boening, a diversified farmer from Poth, warned the problem could spread if the rainy pattern persists.
“Time for making a change is limited,” he said.
Click here to read a letter requesting an extension of RMA’s crop insurance final planting date from Texas Farm Bureau President Russell Boening to Acting Director Grant James.