Feb. 1 is the deadline for Northwest farmers who produce onions and cabbage to buy crop insurance. According to the USDA Risk Management Agency, growers must apply for coverage for spring-planted onions in Idaho, Oregon and Washington and cabbage in Oregon and Washington before the end of January. For the 2015 crop, roughly 93 percent of onions in Washington were insured, with comparable coverage in Idaho and Oregon, Jo Lynne Seufer of the RMA’s Spokane office said. No cabbage was insured. Seufer said the risk may not be significant for growers who raise cabbage in Eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Policyholders who wish to make changes in their coverage also have until the sales closing date. In the meantime, the final date to apply for whole-farm revenue protection and insurance coverage on all other spring crops is March 15, except for wheat in counties with fall and spring-planted types. According to an agency press release, RMA changed the whole-farm revenue protection to include improvements for beginning farmers and ranchers, livestock producers and producers whose operations are expanding. More beginning farmers and ranchers can participate because the agency requires three historical years and farming records from the past year. Any beginning farmer and rancher may qualify by using a former farm operator’s federal farm tax records if they have assumed at least 90 percent of the farm operation. Producers can now insure up to $1 million worth of animals and animal products, according to RMA. The agency also increased the cap on historical revenue for expanding operations to 35 percent so growing farms can better cover growth in the insurance guarantee. Seufer said the agency is fielding inquiries from farmers curious about whole-farm revenue protection, wondering whether protection against down-side price risk is what they need. She encouraged farmers to speak with their crop insurance agent as soon as possible. “The more time they have to work with their agent, the better,” she said. Source - capitalpress.com