Central ND News

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency (RMA) is moving forward with the implementation of new crop insurance policies established under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3). These changes, effective for all crops with sales closing dates on or after July 1, 2025, were secured through efforts led by Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Among the main provisions is Hoeven’s FARMER Act, which aims to strengthen crop insurance and make higher levels of coverage more affordable for producers. The legislation increases premium support for individual-based coverage across nearly all levels by an additional 3-5%, starting at 55%. The Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) has also been enhanced, raising the coverage level from 86% to 90% and increasing premium support from 65% to 80%.

Producers will have access to this enhanced option in 2026 via the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) product, which offers identical coverage at the same cost and premium support levels. USDA plans to update the SCO policy for the 2027 crop year. Additionally, producers can now purchase SCO regardless of their Area Risk Coverage (ARC) elections with the Farm Service Agency.

North Dakota producers are projected to receive $44 million in additional premium support in 2026 due to these enhancements.

The new policies also provide better support for beginning farmers—defined as individuals who have not actively operated and managed a farm or ranch for more than ten crop years. Beginning farmers will receive increased crop insurance premium support above the base rate: an extra subsidy of 15 percentage points for the first two crop years, decreasing incrementally over ten years.

Producers seeking information about how these changes affect their policies are encouraged to contact their crop insurance agents or visit the RMA website.

Senator Hoeven stated: “The FARMER Act provisions that we secured in the One Big Beautiful Bill stand as a historic improvement to the affordability of crop insurance. We appreciate Secretary Rollins and her team at RMA for working with us to swiftly implement our legislation and deliver these benefits to U.S. farmers,” said Hoeven. “In North Dakota alone, producers are expected to receive $44 million in additional premium support as a result of these enhancements. Moreover, we’re investing in a new generation of farmers by providing additional premium support above the base rate for the first ten years of their operations, which will help secure the future of American agriculture.”