FCIC Policies

United States Department of Agriculture

Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

Reinsured Policies

(Appropriate title for insurance provider)

Both FCIC and reinsured policies:

Northern Potato Crop Provisions

These provisions will be applicable in: Alaska; Humboldt, Modoc, and Siskiyou Counties, California; Colorado; Connecticut; Idaho; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Maine; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Montana; Nebraska; Nevada; San Juan County, New Mexico; New York; North Dakota; Ohio; Oregon; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Dakota; Utah; Washington; Wisconsin; and Wyoming; and any other states or counties if allowed by the Special Provisions.

1. Definitions

Buyer. A business entity in the business of buying or processing potatoes, that possesses all the licenses and permits required by the state in which it operates, and has the facilities to accept the potatoes purchased.

Certified seed. Potatoes that were entered into the potato certified seed program and that meet all requirements for production to be used to produce a seed crop for the next crop year or a potato crop for harvest for commercial uses in the next crop year.

Discard. Disposal of production by you, or a person acting for you, without receiving any value for it.

Disposed. Any disposition of the crop including but not limited to sale or discard.

Grade inspection. An inspection in which samples of production are obtained by us, or a party approved by us, prior to the sale, storage, or disposal of any lot of potatoes, or any portion of a lot and the potatoes are evaluated and quality (grade) determinations are made by us, a laboratory approved by us, or a potato grader licensed or certified by the applicable State or the United States Department of Agriculture, in accordance with the United States Standards for Grades of Potatoes. The United States standards used to determine the quality (grade) deficiencies will be: For potatoes produced for chipping, the United States Standards for Grades of Potatoes for Chipping; for potatoes produced for processing, the United States Standards for Grades of Potatoes for Processing; for potatoes produced for seed, the United States Standards for Grades of Seed Potatoes; and for all other potatoes, the United States Standards for Grades of Potatoes. The quantity and number of samples required will be determined in accordance with procedure issued by FCIC.

Harvest. Lifting potatoes from within the soil to the soil surface.

Hundredweight. One hundred (100) pounds avoirdupois.

Local market. The area in which the insured potatoes are normally sold.

Lot. A quantity of production that can be separated from other quantities of production by grade characteristics, load, location or other distinctive features.

Potato certified seed program. The state program administered by a public agency responsible for the seed certification process within the state in which the seed is produced.

Tuber rot. Any soft, mushy, or leaky condition of potato tissue (soft rot or wet breakdown as defined in the United States Standards for Grades of Potatoes), including, but not limited to, breakdown caused by Southern Bacterial Wilt, Ring Rot, or Late Blight.

2. Insurance Guarantees, Coverage Levels, and Prices for Determining Indemnities

(a) In addition to the requirements of section 3 of the Basic Provisions, you may select only one price election for all the potatoes in the county insured under this policy unless the Special Provisions provide different price elections by type. If the Special Provisions provide for different price elections by type, you may select one price election for each potato type designated in the Special Provisions. The price elections you choose for each type must have the same percentage relationship to the maximum price election offered by us for each type. For example, if you choose 100 percent of the maximum price election for one type, you must also choose 100 percent of the maximum price election for all other types.

(b) If the production from any acreage of the insured crop is not harvested, the price used to determine your indemnity will be 90 percent of your price election. This requirement is not applicable to the certified seed endorsement price election.

(c) The price election for unharvested acreage will apply to any acreage of potatoes damaged to the extent that similarly situated producers in the area would not normally care for the potatoes even if you choose to continue to care for or harvest them. Potatoes that are lifted to the soil surface and not removed from the field will also receive the price election for unharvested acreage.

3. Contract Changes

In accordance with section 4 of the Basic Provisions, the contract change date is November 30 preceding the cancellation date.

4. Cancellation and Termination Dates

In accordance with section 2 of the Basic Provisions, the cancellation and termination dates are March 15.

5. Annual Premium

In lieu of the premium computation method contained in section 7 of the Basic Provisions, the annual premium amount (y) is computed by multiplying (a) the production guarantee by (b) the price election for harvested acreage, by (c) the premium rate, by (d) the insured acreage, by (e) your share at the time of planting, and by (f) any applicable premium adjustment factors contained in the actuarial documents (a × b × c × d × e × f = y).

6. Insured Crop

In accordance with section 8 of the Basic Provisions, the crop insured will be all the potatoes in the county for which a premium rate is provided by the actuarial documents:

(a) In which you have a share;

(b) Planted with certified seed (unless otherwise permitted by the Special Provisions);

(c) Planted for harvest as certified seed stock, or for human consumption, (unless specified otherwise in the Special Provisions);

(d) That are not (unless allowed by the Special Provision or by written agreement):

(1) Interplanted with another crop; or

(2) Planted into an established grass or legume.

7. Insurable Acreage

In addition to the provisions of section 9 of the Basic Provisions, we will not insure any acreage that:

(a) Does not meet the rotation requirements contained in the Special Provisions for the crop; or

(b) Is damaged before the final planting date to the extent that similarly situated producers in the area would normally not further care for the crop, unless it is replanted or we agree that it is not practical to replant.

8. Insurance Period

In accordance with the provisions of section 11 of the Basic Provisions, the calendar date for the end of the insurance period is the date immediately following planting as follows (exceptions, if any, for specific counties, varieties or types are contained in the Special Provisions):

(a) October 1, in Alaska;

(b) October 10 in Nebraska and Wyoming;

(c) October 15 in Colorado; Indiana; Iowa; Michigan; Minnesota; Montana; Nevada; North Dakota; South Dakota; Utah; and Wisconsin;

(d) October 20 in Maine;

(e) October 25 in Kansas; and

(f) October 31 in Humboldt, Modoc, and Siskiyou Counties, California; Connecticut; Idaho; Massachusetts; San Juan County, New Mexico; New York; Ohio; Oregon; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; and Washington.

9. Causes of Loss

(a) In accordance with the provisions of section 12 of the Basic Provisions, insurance is provided only against the following causes of loss that occur within the insurance period:

(1) Adverse weather conditions;

(2) Fire;

(3) Insects, but only if sufficient and proper pest control measures are used;

(4) Plant disease, but only if sufficient and proper disease control measures are used;

(5) Wildlife;

(6) Earthquake;

(7) Volcanic eruption; or

(8) Failure of the irrigation water supply, if caused by an insured peril that occurs during the insurance period (see section 9(a)(1) through (7)).

(b) In addition to the causes of loss not insured against as contained in section 12 of the Basic Provisions, we will not insure against any loss of production due to:

(1) Damage that occurs or becomes evident after the end of the insurance period, including, but not limited to, damage that occurs or becomes evident in storage; or

(2) Causes, such as freeze after certain dates, as limited by the Special Provisions.

10. Duties in the Event of Damage or Loss

(a) In accordance with the requirements of section 14 of the Basic Provisions, you must leave representative samples at least 10 feet wide and extending the entire length of each field in the unit if you are going to destroy any acreage of the insured crop that will not be harvested.

(b) We must be given the opportunity to perform a grade inspection on the production from any unit for which you have given notice of damage.

11. Settlement of Claim

(a) We will determine your loss on a unit basis. In the event you are unable to provide separate acceptable production records:

(1) For any optional units, we will combine all optional units for which acceptable production records were not provided; and

(2) For any basic units, we will allocate any commingled production to such units in proportion to our liability on the harvested acreage for the units.

(b) In the event of loss or damage covered by this policy, we will settle your claim by:

(1) Multiplying the insured acreage by its respective production guarantee (If there is unharvested acreage in the unit, the harvested and unharvested acreage will be determined separately);

(2) Multiplying each result in section 11(b)(1) by the respective price election (The price election may be limited as specified in section 3.);

(3) Totaling the results of section 11(b)(2);

(4) Multiplying the total production to be counted of each type, if applicable (see section 11(d)), by the respective price election;

(5) Totaling the results of section 11(b)(4);

(6) Subtracting the results of section 11(b)(5) from the result in section 11(b)(3); and

(7) Multiplying the result of section 11(b)(6) by your share.

For example:

You have a 100 percent share in 100 harvested acres of potatoes in the unit, with a guarantee of 150 hundredweight per acre and a price election of $4.00 per hundredweight. You are only able to harvest 10,000 hundredweight. Your indemnity would be calculated as follows:

(1) 100 acres × 150 hundredweight = 15,000 hundredweight guarantee;

(2) 15,000 hundredweight × $4.00 price election = $60,000.00 value of guarantee;

(4) 10,000 hundredweight × $4.00 price election = $40,000.00 value of production to count;

(6) $60,000.00 − $40,000.00 = $20,000.00 loss; and

(7) $20,000.00 × 100 percent = $20,000.00 indemnity payment.

You also have a 100 percent share in 100 unharvested acres of potatoes in the same unit, with a guarantee of 150 hundredweight per acre and a price election of $3.60 per hundredweight. (The price election for unharvested acreage is 90.0 percent of your elected price election ($4.00 × 0.90 = $3.60.)) This unharvested acreage was appraised at 35 hundredweight per acre for a total of 3500 hundredweight as production to count. Your total indemnity for the harvested and unharvested acreage would be calculated as follows:

(1) 100 acres × 150 hundredweight = 15,000 hundredweight guarantee for the harvested acreage, and

100 acres × 150 hundredweight = 15,000 hundredweight guarantee for the unharvested acreage;

(2) 15,000 hundredweight guarantee × $4.00 price election = $60,000.00 value of guarantee for the harvested acreage, and

15,000 hundredweight guarantee × $3.60 price election = $54,000.00 value of guarantee for the unharvested acreage;

(3) $60,000.00 + $54,000.00 = $114,000.00 total value of guarantee;

(4) 10,000 hundredweight × $4.00 price election = $40,000.00 value of production to count for the harvested acreage, and 3500 hundredweight × $3.60 = $12,600.00 value of production to count for the unharvested acreage;

(5) $40,000.00 + $12,600.00 = $52,600.00 total value of production to count;

(6) $114,000.00 − $52,600.00 = $61,400.00 loss; and

(7) $61,400.00 loss × 100 percent = $61,400.00 indemnity payment.

(c) The extent of any quality loss must be determined based on samples obtained no later than the time the potatoes are placed in storage, if the production is stored prior to sale, or the date they are delivered to a buyer, wholesaler, packer, broker, or other handler if production is not stored.

(d) The total production to count (in hundredweight) from all insurable acreage on the unit will include:

(1) All appraised production as follows:

(i) Not less than the production guarantee per acre for acreage:

(A) That is abandoned;

(B) That is put to another use without our consent;

(C) That is damaged solely by uninsured causes;

(D) From which any production is disposed of without a grade inspection; or

(E) For which you fail to provide acceptable production records;

(ii) Production lost due to uninsured causes;

(iii) Production lost due to harvest prior to full maturity. Production to count from such acreage will be determined by increasing the amount of harvested production by 2 percent per day for each day the potatoes were harvested prior to the date the potatoes would have reached full maturity. The date the potatoes would have reached full maturity will be considered to be 45 days prior to the calendar date for the end of the insurance period, unless otherwise specified in the Special Provisions. This adjustment will not be made if the potatoes are damaged by an insurable cause of loss, and leaving the crop in the field would either reduce production or decrease quality;

(iv) Unharvested production, including unharvested production on insured acreage you intend to put to another use or abandon, or acreage damaged by insurable causes and for which you cease to provide further care, if you and we agree on the appraised amount of production. Upon such agreement, the insurance period for that acreage will end when you put the acreage to another use or cease providing care for the crop. This unharvested production may be adjusted in accordance with sections 11(e), (f), and (g); and the value of all unharvested production will be calculated using the reduced price election determined in section 2(b). If agreement on the appraised amount of production is not reached:

(A) If you do not elect to continue to care for the crop, we may give you consent to put the acreage to another use if you agree to leave intact, and provide sufficient care for, representative samples of the crop in locations acceptable to us (The price used to determine the amount of any indemnity will be limited as specified in section 2 even if the representative samples are harvested. The amount of production to count for such acreage will be based on the harvested production or appraisals from the samples at the time harvest should have occurred. If you do not leave the required samples intact, or fail to provide sufficient care for the samples, our appraisal made prior to giving you consent to put the acreage to another use will be used to determine the amount of production to count); or

(B) If you elect to continue to care for the crop, the amount of production to count for the acreage will be the harvested production, or our reappraisal if additional damage occurs and the crop is not harvested; and

(2) All harvested production from the insurable acreage (the amount of production prior to the sorting or discarding of any production).

(e) Potato production is eligible for quality adjustment if:

(1) The potatoes have freeze damage or tuber rot that is evident at, or prior to, the end of the insurance period; and

(2) A grade inspection is completed no later than 21 days after the end of the insurance period (if the Northern Potato Storage Coverage Endorsement is applicable, samples must be obtained within 60 days after the end of the insurance period and quality (grade) determinations must be completed with 21 days of sampling); and

(3) Prior to any grade inspection, you must notify us of the intended use of the potatoes so the appropriate United States standards will be applied (We may request previous sales records to verify your claimed intended use or base the intended use on the type of potato grown if such potatoes are not usually grown for the intended use you reported).

(f) Potato production to count that is eligible for quality adjustment, as specified in section 11(e), with 5 percent damage or less (by weight) will be adjusted 0.1 percent for each 0.1 percent of damage through 5.0 percent.

(g) Potato production to count that is eligible for quality adjustment, as specified in section 11(e), with 5.1 percent damage or more (by weight) will be determined as follows:

(1) If a price is agreed upon between you and a buyer within 21 days (60 days if the Northern Potato Storage Coverage endorsement is applicable), after the end of the insurance period, or the production is delivered to a buyer within 21 days (60 days if the Northern Potato Storage Coverage Endorsement is applicable), after the end of the insurance period, the amount of production will be determined by:

(i) Dividing the price per hundredweight received or that will be received by the highest price election designated in the Special Provisions or addendum thereto for the insured potato type (if the production is sold for a price lower than the value appropriate to and representative of the local market, we will determine the value of the production based on the price you could have received in the local market); and

(ii) Multiplying the result (not to exceed 1.0) by the number of hundredweight of sold or to be sold production (We may verify this after the production has actually been sold); or

(2) If a price is not agreed upon between you and a buyer and the production is not delivered within 21 days (60 days if the Northern Storage Coverage Endorsement is applicable) after the end of the insurance period, and that remain in storage 22 or more days (61 or more days if the Northern Potato Storage Coverage Endorsement is applicable), after the end of the insurance period, the amount of production will be the greater of:

(i) The amount determined by:

(A) Dividing the price per hundredweight that is received, or will be received after the end of the applicable insurance period, by the highest price election designated in the Special Provisions or addendum thereto for the insured potato type (if the production is sold for a price lower than the value appropriate to and representative of the local market, we will determine the value of the production based on the price you could have received in the local market); and

(B) Multiplying the result of section 11(g)(2)(i)(A) (not to exceed 1.0) by the number of hundredweight of sold or to be sold production (We may verify this after the production has actually been sold); or

(ii) The amount of production determined by:

(A) Reducing any harvested or appraised production:

(1) By 0.1 percent for each 0.1 percent damage through 5.0 percent;

(2) By 0.5 percent for each 0.1 percent of damage from 5.1 percent through 6.0 percent;

(3) By 1.0 percent for each 0.1 percent of damage from 6.1 through 13.5 percent; or

(B) Including 15 percent of the production when damage is in excess of 13.5 percent.

(iii) For any production discarded:

(A) Within 21 days (60 days if the Northern Potato Storage Coverage Endorsement is applicable), after the end of the insurance period, the amount of production to count will be:

(1) Zero if we determine the production could not have been sold; or

(2) Determined in accordance with section 11(g)(2)(ii) if we determine the production could have been sold; or

(B) Later than 21 days (60 days if the Northern Potato Storage Coverage Endorsement is applicable), after the end of the insurance period, the amount of production to count will be adjusted in accordance with section 11(g)(2)(ii).

12. Prevented Planting

Your prevented planting coverage will be a percentage specified in the actuarial documents of your production guarantee for timely planted acreage. If you have additional coverage and pay an additional premium, you may increase your prevented planting coverage if such additional coverage is specified in the actuarial documents.