Acreage Reporting Reminders

AgriSompo has compiled a number of reminders, tips, and resources for our agents to refer to as they complete the acreage reporting process. 

For additional assistance, please contact your AgriSompo representative.

These are guidelines and do not replace the handbooks or provisions.

 

Acreage Reporting Date

Acreage must be keyed, uploaded through the Document Management system, and submitted by:

  • 30 days after the acreage reporting date, for processing agencies.
  • 10 days after the acreage reporting date, for non-processing agencies.

 

Source Documents

  • A source document is what you used at the time you and your insured filled out the acreage report.  Scan in your source document with your acreage report.  
  • This could help later should there be a keying error or discrepancy.

 

CLU Keying Requirement

  • 100% of insurable acres must be reported AND keyed by CLU.
  • Full CLU information needs to be listed on the acreage report.
  • This requirement can be met using any of our acreage reporting forms.

 

Added Land

  • Added land is ground new to the farming operation.
  • Added crop P/T/V is ground that has been previously farmed by the operation but has a new crop/practice/type/variety.
  • The cropland acreage limitation categories for added land and new crop/P/T are:
    • Added land less than 2,000 acres = use higher of SAT or T-yield.
    • Added land of 2,000 acres or greater = use T-yield.
  • Identify added land on the acreage report. SAT must be requested if that is what your customer wants, and they qualify as a separate basic or optional unit.
  • If the insured adds ground to a section they already farm, do not create a new unit for the new ground. You will add the acreage in with the existing fields.

 

Native Sod

  • Native sod is acreage that has never been tilled or which the insured can’t prove was previously tilled for production of an annual crop on or before February 7, 2014.
    • Any native sod acreage tilled prior to February 7, 2014, will not be subject to the reduction in benefits, regardless of when the native sod acreage is planted.
  • Acreage is considered native sod when more than 5 acres are tilled in the county, cumulatively across crop years.
    • Cumulative native sod acreage fewer than 5 acres in the county is considered de minimis (DM) and will NOT receive any reduction in benefits.
    • Cumulative native sod acreage greater than 5 acres will receive reduction in benefits.
  • The RMA has added new headings to the information within the CIH and GSH to clarify which Farm Bill applies (2014 or 2018).

 

2014 Farm Bill Procedures for Native Sod

  • Native Sod acreage tilled from February 8, 2014 – December 20, 2018, will continue to follow the provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill.
  • Acreage is considered native sod until it has four crop years of planting.

 

2018 Farm Bill Procedures for Native Sod

  • These procedures apply to native sod tilled beginning December 21, 2018, for the production, of an insured crop.
  • Acreage is considered native sod until the acreage has four crop years (insurance years for WFRP) of an insured crop within the first 10 crop years after initial tillage.
  • Native sod procedures now apply to all insurable crops and all insurance plans.
  • Any crop year in which a crop is insured on the native sod acreage under an additional coverage policy will count toward fulfilling the four crop years of an insured crop.
  • CAT coverage does not count as a crop year of insurance toward the four crop years of an insured crop.
  • A combination of annual and perennial/ biennial crops may be utilized to fulfill the first four crop years of an insured crop.
  • Prevented planting acres will count toward fulfilling the four crop years of an insured crop.
  • The native sod designation applies when more than five acres are tilled cumulatively across crop years (insurance years for WFRP) for the production, of an insured crop beginning December 21, 2018, in all counties in the native sod states.
  • If a producer tilled five native sod acres or fewer under the 2014 Farm Bill and tilled additional native sod acres under the 2018 Farm Bill, so that the cumulative native sod acres exceeded five acres, the 2018 Farm Bill procedures apply.

 

CRP/New Breaking

  • New Breaking requests for native sod and New Breaking must be turned in on or before ARD for New Breaking acreage to be insurable.
  • Acreage emerging from CRP is insurable using the County T-yield.
  • Must have a separate database for the initial year. In AgriNet you have the ability to set these units so that they will combine into an existing unit the next crop year.
  • SAT must be requested on the acreage report if SAT is desired for the current crop year.

 

Unit Numbering/Unit Structure

  • Please make sure the units are numbered correctly and reflect the unit structure the insured elected as well as how they have reported production.
  • An insured can now have Enterprise Units by Irrigation Practice in which they have EU elected for one practice and OU/BU for the other practice. This would have been elected at SCD.
  • An insured can now have Enterprise Units by Type (ET) where they have EU elected for one type, i.e. Spring/Winter Wheat, different types of Dry Beans, etc., and OU/BU for the other practice. They may also have EU elected for all types.
  • If EU, ET (Enterprise Units by Type), or EI (Enterprise Units by Practice) is elected but fails to qualify:
    • Specify on the acreage report– BU, OU, or one EU in a situation where the acres do not qualify for EI or ET.
    • If a unit structure is not specified on the acreage report, the insured could potentially have BU assigned for the crop.

 

Multi-County Enterprise Unit

  • MCEU allows a producer to combine acreage of an insured crop, by irrigation practice, if applicable, in two contiguous counties in the same state into one enterprise unit.
  • To qualify for a MCEU, one county must qualify independently for an enterprise unit and the other county must not qualify for an enterprise unit.
  • Both county crop policies in the MCEU must be with the same AIP.
  • MCEU must be elected on the application for both counties. Both counties must also have the same elections for insurance plan, coverage level, and enterprise unit or enterprise unit by practice.
  • The election combines all insured acreage of the crop (or all insured acreage of the irrigation practice if enterprise unit by practice is elected) in both counties into a single enterprise unit.
  • Premium, guarantee, and liability will be calculated separately for each county based on the acres physically located in that county and using the actuarial documents for that county.
  • The enterprise unit premium discount will be determined by using the total acres contained in the MCEU.
  • Primary and secondary counties will need to be indicated on the Acreage Report.

 

Qualifying acres for EU/EI/ET

  • Once acres are keyed and saved on a policy, AgriNet will automatically figure the correct unit structure.
  • If a policy does NOT automatically qualify for the correct unit structure, please contact your underwriter as some policies may need additional verification or disqualification.

 

Late Planting/Prevented Planting/High Risk

  • For processors, when keying, AgriNet will automatically copy lines after they are finalized if there are acres on one unit that fall in different categories (timely planted, late planted, prevented, high risk, etc.).
    • High risk ground with a different T-yield than non-high-risk ground will need a different APH database.
    • High risk ground with the same T-yield as non-high-risk ground will have the same APH database. At this time, you will need to copy the APH database to get the correct rates to apply to both high risk and standard ground.

 

Prevent Plant (PP) acres: 

  • Please be sure to report ALL PP acres on the acreage report. Simply filing a PP claim is not considered reporting those acres, and it is nearly impossible for us to accept a revised acreage report adding PP acres after the deadline.

 

Replants

  • Use the initial plant date, not the replant date.

 

Uninsurable/Uninsured acres

  • All acres must be reported on the acreage report, including uninsurable and uninsured. Failure to report uninsurable and uninsured acres will lead to that production being counted against the guarantee of reported acres if there is a claim for the crop year in question.
  • For processors, AgriNet will automatically copy lines after they are finalized if both insurable and uninsurable acres are on the same unit.

 

High Risk and Unrated Acres

  • Please pay close attention and make sure your insureds are reporting High Risk and Unrated Acres in order, to calculate yields, and premium correctly.
  • Three options to determine whether ground is high risk or unrated:
    • RMA Mapping through the Actuarial Information Browser
    • AgriNet Mapping
    • CIMS
  • Options for insuring High Risk Land:
    • Written Agreement
    • HR Land Exclusion Option
    • HR ACE policy
  • Options for Unrated Land:
    • Written Agreement is needed for land to be insurable
    • If no WA done, acreage is uninsurable
  • RMA has been known to request unpaid high-risk premium when land was reported at the incorrect risk rating.

 

Practice/Type 

  • Please make sure that ALL acres are looked at and listed correctly on the acreage reports if the insured has multiple practices or types listed for a crop.  

 

No Longer Farming Units

  • DO NOT DELETE any lines at acreage reporting.
  • Go to the Acreage tab and use the drop-down box labeled Uninsurable and select “No Longer Farming”.

 

Insuring landlord/tenant share

  • Verify all supporting documents are uploaded through the Document Management system and keyed correctly in AgriNet.
  • Identify unit in Field Name (e.g. "insuring LL/T share").
  • Processing Example: Tenant is insuring the landlord’s share. The landlord has a 50% share, and the tenant has a 50% share. On the tenant’s acreage report you would list 100% and in the Acreage tab towards the bottom left you can add Shareholder underneath the Farmer/Landlord Shareholders section. Your underwriter can help you should you still have questions.

 

Conservation Compliance

  • Insureds have until the premium billing date to file an AD-1026 with FSA.
  • If an insured does not have an AD-1026 on file, they may qualify for an exemption. This exemption can only be used their first year farming and they will need to get an AD-1026 filed at FSA going forward.
  • If an insured is not compliant, they will not receive any premium subsidy.
  • Please verify with your insured that they have an AD-1026 on file with FSA with the same name and Tax ID number that was used to set up their crop insurance policy.

 

Field crossing section lines

  • ALL legal descriptions must be reported on the unit if the field actually crosses into another section, even if it is only by an acre.  

 

Fields crossing county lines

  • If you have an ARPI policy, you MUST report the acres in the county in which they are actually located. For an individual policy, you can choose in which county you want to report that field.

 

Contracts / Processor Agreement

  • Contract Price Addendum (CPA) must be elected by the Sales Closing Date (SCD).
  • Contract Price (CP) must be elected no later than Acreage Reporting Date (ARD).
  • Agents need to refer to the Special Provisions for the deadlines.
  • The contract price can only be used if CP is available for that specific practice and type.
  • All contracts must be uploaded through the Document Management system by Acreage Reporting time.
  • If a contract is not submitted, the projected price will be used.
  • Sugar beets require a Processor Agreement to be turned in by the acreage reporting date. Acres will not be verified without that agreement.

 

Malting Barley Endorsement (MBE)

  • The MBE option must be elected by the SCD.
  • The insured must provide the AIP with copies of all contracts on or before the acreage reporting date applicable for the insured acres. Failure to provide at least one contract by the acreage reporting date requires that all planted acres be insured under the terms of the Small Grains Crop Provisions without the additional coverage provided by MBE.
  • Eligible contracts include a malting barley contract, malting barley price agreement or a malting barley seed contract. The contract must specify the amount of contracted production, the purchase price or a method to determine such price; and establish the obligations of each party to the agreement.

 

Organics

  • For ground that is certified organic, we need the Organic Plan and Organic Certificate by ARD.
  • For ground that is transitioning to organic, we need the Organic Plan by ARD.
  • If the insured does not have an organic plan or certificate, they need documentation from the certifying agent that an organic plan is in effect.

 

SCO/ARC

  • If the insured has elected SCO for a crop, they need to identify on the acreage report which FSN was planted to the crop with SCO and are now enrolled in ARC, which will then make that FSN ineligible for SCO coverage.
  • If not designated by the billing date, a 60% penalty will be assessed.

 

Signatures

  • See Exhibit 4 in the General Standards Handbook (GSH) for information on signature(s) required by Person Type.

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