Micro Farm Program

USDA rolled out a new insurance option specifically for agricultural producers with small farms who sell locally. The new Micro Farm policy simplifies record keeping and covers post-production costs like washing and value-added products.

Eligibility:
Micro Farm is available to producers who have a farm operation that earns an average allowable revenue of $100,000 or less, or for carryover Micro Farm insureds, an average allowable revenue of $125,000 or less. RMA’s research showed that 85% of producers who sell locally reported they made less than $75,000 in gross sales.

Underwriting and Recordkeeping Requirements:
Micro Farm minimizes underwriting and recordkeeping requirements, and producers will not have to report expenses and individual commodities.

Post-production Revenue:
Producers can include post-production costs activities as revenue, such as washing and packaging commodities or value-added products like jam.

Single Code:
All agricultural commodities on your farm operation are designated under a single code for micro farms. Since individual commodities insured under the micro farm commodity code are not listed, there is no need to have and report separate expected values and yields.

A Micro Farms policy can have NO underlying MPCI.

The whole-farm history period for a calendar or early fiscal year filer under Micro Farm for the 2022 policy year with three years of tax records is 2019, 2020, and 2021”

The Risk Management Agency (RMA) is issuing a new Micro Farm policy intended to provide additional insurance options for small-scale producers. The Micro Farm policy was designed based on research required under the 2018 Farm Bill. And, the policy development process included obtaining feedback from small-scale producers that have grown products for their local communities.

The Micro Farm policy is offered through Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and is enhanced to better meet the needs of small-scale farms. This includes:

• Eligibility: Micro Farm is available to producers who have a farm operation that earns an average allowable revenue of $100,000 or less, or for carryover insureds, an average allowable revenue of $125,000 or less.
• Coverage Levels: All coverage levels will be available to producers using Micro Farm. This will enable producers to purchase the 80% and 85% coverage levels without providing additional paperwork.
• Underwriting and Recordkeeping Requirements: Micro Farm minimizes underwriting and recordkeeping requirements, and producers will not have to report expenses and individual commodities.
• Post-production Revenue: Producers can include post-production costs activities as revenue, such as washing and packaging commodities or value-added products like jam.

Micro Farm is available for the 2022 crop year. Sales closing dates are January 31, February 28, or March 15 depending on the producer’s county.