The Risk Management Agency (RMA) issued bulletin MGR-20-006 on March 27, 2020, due to “stay at home” orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. MGR-20-006 authorized Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) to accept production reports through the earlier of the acreage reporting date (ARD) or 30 calendar days after the applicable production reporting date (PRD) for 2019 and 2020 crop year policies insured under the Common Crop Insurance Policy, Basic Provisions (BP) with a PRD of March 15, 2020, or later.

RMA has identified some 2019 area-based plans such as Margin Protection (MP) or Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) crop policies that have production reporting dates after March 15, 2020, which means production reporting is also impacted by the “stay at home” orders.

For any crop year insurance policy with a PRD of March 15, 2020, through May 15, 2020, AIPs are authorized to accept production reports through the earlier of the ARD or 30 calendar days after the applicable PRD. The additional time to accept production reports will also apply to any associated option, endorsement, election or request that is required to be elected or have completion deadlines by the PRD. Applicable options, endorsements, or elections are available on the RMA website, COVID-19 FAQ: www.rma.usda.gov/en/News-Room/Frequently-Asked-Questions/COVID-19-Response.

AIPs are also allowed additional time to accept the following requests for Category B crops: Regional Office (RO) Determined Yield, Master Yield, and Irrigated Determined Yield for crops with a PRD of March 15, 2020, through May 15, 2020. The completed requests can be accepted by the AIP by the earlier of ARD or the applicable deadline plus 30 calendar days. For example, a RO Determined Yield request, which must be completed no later than 20 calendar days after the PRD, could be accepted by the AIP the earlier of ARD or 50 days after the applicable PRD.

Insureds who do not provide an acceptable production report by the earlier of the ARD or 30 calendar days after the PRD, or do not follow up with a properly signed form(s) by no later than July 15, 2020, will be considered to have failed to comply with the requirements of section 3(f) of the BP. Failure to provide an acceptable production report by the due date may result in assigned yields and ineligibility for optional units.

DISPOSAL DATE:
December 31, 2020