Are you wondering if crop insurance might be valuable for you and your farming business but are unsure of the options? The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA), which oversees crop insurance programming, has released a useful document, “Beginners Guide to Crop Insurance,” available in both English and Spanish.

This guide provides basic information about crop insurance, a handy glossary of terms, contact information for RMA regional offices and links to other resources. Some of the resources include how to purchase crop insurance, a brief explanation of the approach to insurance costs, and important policy dates to remember.

For beginning farmers, purchasing insurance can be overwhelming and challenging to navigate. Each type of insurance has its own set of unique features or considerations. RMAs new guide is a great first step to gaining better understanding of how to begin mitigating on-farm risks.

The guide can also be combined with information available on crop insurance at Michigan State University Extension’s Farm Business Revenue Insurance webpage. There you can find articles, videos and publications that dive deeper into the considerations of various insurance policies. These include comprehensive Michigan State University Extension bulletins on crop insurance options for field crop growers, vegetable growers and fruit growers.