Earlier this week, The U.S. Department of Agriculture, commonly referred to as the USDA published that it has taken measures to beef up insurance policies for hemp companies, making them more adaptable in response to stakeholder surveys.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency, commonly referred to as the RMA, stated it is making it, so hemp cultivators are no longer obligated to deliver their hemp crop without commercial value for insurance purposes. Instead, it amended the policy to define how the volume of insurable property is decided if the processor agreement describes both land and a production cost.
‘This alteration was made in the to guarantee farmers know how their insurable property is settled for those agreements,” the agency stated in a press release.
RMA President Marcia Bunger stated that hemp is a breakthrough crop. We are collaborating with hemp producers to present insurance benefits that make sense for hemp producers and protection providers.
RMA has served to broaden and refine our contributions to be compassionate and effective.
The agency also said it had added a provision for hemp producers who grow hemp undeviatingly from seeds that are established in the soil.
‘Before protection assigns, producers must have property investigated and must have a modicum of 1,200 live cannabis plants per acre,’ the provision explained. ‘This provision was added to regulate direct-seeded hemp with the traditional farming system for transplanted Cannabidiol or CBD of transplanting at least 1,200 live cannabis plants per acre.’
The design changes were described in a bulletin that was published on Tuesday. The department also released updated insurance standards and crop loss adjustments handbooks, as well as a detailed summary of the changes.
USDA has taken a number of measures to align hemp insurance strategies with those of other legal crops because the plant was federally authorized under the 2018 Farm Bill, perpetually seeking out information from stakeholders as the cannabis industry matures (pun intended.)
Back in 2020, for instance, the department made it so hemp cultivators can pass for Multi-Peril Crop Insurance, in extension to a litany of other insurance programs for which the cannabis plant is now eligible.
At this time, federal hemp crop insurance arrangements are open in select counties in 25 states. This year, hemp cultivators insured nearly 12,000 acres and 60 policies to protect $11 million in responsibilities.
As part of its overall game plan, the USDA launched a large-scale survey earlier this summer to gain acumen about the hemp exchange that’s developed.
After demanding permission from the White House earlier this year to carry the survey with nearly 20,000 hemp cultivators, the agency’s National Agricultural Statistics Service stated that the applications are being settled to be filled out via postage or online.
USDA is investigating concerns about plans for outdoor hemp cultivation, land for operations, primary and auxiliary uses for the cannabis crop, and what type of prices farmers can bring in. In addition, the survey lists products such as smokeable hemp, extracts similar to CBD, hemp grain designed for human consumption, hemp fiber, and hemp seeds as areas the department is interested in learning more about.
Last year, USDA published plans to distribute a different national survey to gain acumens from thousands of hemp companies that could notify its approach to regulate the cannabis industry.
That survey is being developed in partnership with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. The survey will also receive some help from the University of Kentucky. The USDA stated that it wanted to learn about current hemp production values, cultivation practices, and marketing methods for hemp.
There’s still a multitude to learn about the emerging market, even as USDA continues to support state regulatory plans for the hemp crop.