BILLINGS, Mont., Aug. 11, 2015 - USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced today that it has extended winter wheat coverage into all counties in South Dakota through the Winter Coverage Endorsement option. Crop insurance provides protection against crop production losses due to natural perils such as drought, hail, and excessive moisture.

The winter wheat type for irrigated and non-irrigated practices has been extended into Beadle, Brookings, Clark, Codington, Day, Deuel, Grant, Hamlin, Kingsbury, Lake, Marshall, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, and Roberts counties. The winter wheat type summer fallow continuous crop and irrigated practices has been extended into Brown, Campbell, Corson, Edmunds, Faulk, McPherson, Spink, and Walworth counties. The sales closing date for winter wheat in all counties is September 30. The final planting date for winter wheat in all counties is October 15. Producers need to buy, review, or modify their crop insurance policies before the sales closing date has passed.

Producers in these counties who have previously planted winter wheat and insured winter wheat as spring wheat will need to re-certify their actual production history databases to separate the acreage and production by type. Winter wheat is no longer insured as spring wheat in these counties.

Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at the RMA Agent Locator. Producers can also use the RMA Cost Estimator to get a premium amount estimate of their insurance needs online.