Photo Courtesy of NRCS

TKC Communications subcontracted AgriLogic to provide USDA-RMA a cost benefit analysis on proposed changes to the nursery crop insurance program. RMA developed a proposed rule to codify changes to better meet the needs of nursery growers. By government regulation, a cost benefit analysis is required to assess the effect of the proposed insurance program changes on the growers, nursery providers, and government outlays. Explanation of this requirement and content guidelines can be found under Regulatory Decisionmaking Requirements (DR 1521-1).

The Federal nursery crop insurance program is an important component of the overall safety net for growers. Growers in the 2002 crop year were covered for over $3 billion worth of liabilities. The nursery crop insurance program was the fourth largest of the current crop insurance programs offered by FCIC in the 2002 crop year when ranked by the amount of liability. Of the almost 100 reported programs on the nationwide summary by crop, only the corn, soybeans and wheat insurance programs had higher amounts of insured liability.

Proposed nursery provision revisions were evaluated by category and major impacts of the proposal determined. Producers would be able to insure potential liabilities for plants in containers presently excluded from the current insurance provisions, purchase nursery crop insurance or request plant inventory value report increases for an additional three months in the crop year, and, with additional premium payment, add a plant rehabilitation endorsement to their policy. Government and taxpayers potentially benefit from a reduced need for emergency appropriations for ad hoc disaster payment assistance, which could be more costly to the government and less effective in targeting assistance to those growers in need.

The following link is to the Final Rule for changes to the Nursery Crop Insurance Program.

http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=979885233829+0+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve