SECRETARY ANNOUNCES TWO NEW MEMBERS TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Release No. 0344.97 Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623 tamontree@usda.gov Eric Edgington (202) 690-2539 SECRETARY ANNOUNCES TWO NEW MEMBERS TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE CORPORATION WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced today that the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, August Schumacher and I. Miley Gonzalez will serve on the Board of Directors for the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. The Board is responsible for reviewing and approving crop insurance programs that are administered by the Risk Management Agency(RMA). "These outstanding leaders have the experience and expertise necessary to shape our risk management initiatives", said Glickman. "Through this combined effort, we have renewed our commitment to providing producers the best risk management tools possible." Following the appointments, the Board reviewed and approved an expansion of the Crop Revenue Coverage (CRC) for corn, soybeans, cotton, and grain sorghum into new states and counties. CRC provides revenue protection based on price and yield expectations. The new states and counties are: Corn: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming Soybeans: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota. South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin Cotton: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and the remaining counties in Texas. Grain Sorghum: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the remaining counties in Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Texas. CRC in these states and counties will be available in the spring of 1998. Previously, approved CRC crops are attached. Coverage may be purchased from crop insurance agents. A listing of agents may be found in all local Farm Service Agency offices. The Board also discussed the proposed regulations to increase prevented planting coverage and potential modifications to the nonstandard underwriting classification system (NCS). The proposed regulations for prevented planting increase coverage from 50 percent to 60 percent of the production guarantee for timely planted coarse grains (corn, grain sorghum, and soybeans), small grains (barley, flax, oats, rye, and wheat), dry beans, and sunflower seeds with an option for the farmer to increase the coverage to 65 or 70 percent for an additional premium; and a 45 percent prevented planting coverage level for cotton, ELS cotton, sugar beets, onions, and rice with an option for producers to increase the coverage to 50 or 55 percent for an additional premium. Substitute crops under the proposed regulations are limited to cover crops that are not harvested. Following a thorough review of the comments, the RMA anticipates that the new regulations will be applicable to insured crops beginning this spring. By law, the RMA must operate FCIC in an actuarially sound manner. NCS is one process used to attain this goal. NCS compares an individual producer's crop loss history with the norm for the county in which the farm is located. If the producer losses sufficiently exceeds the established level of loss frequency and severity, the producer's rates and coverages are adjusted. This process helps RMA attain underwriting goals without raising all rates to accommodate riskier business. To ensure that NCS does not operate unfairly, RMA is requesting comments on proposals to change the process. Written comments must be submitted by October 17, 1997. For further information, please contact Michael F. Hand, Director, Claims and Underwriting Services Division, Risk Management Agency, telephone (202) 720-3439. Crop Revenue Coverage Availability (prior to October 6th expansion) Corn CO, IA, IL all MPCI counties IN, KS, MI all MPCI counties MN, MO, NE all MPCI counties OH, OK all MPCI counties SD, TX all MPCI counties Cotton AZ, GA, OK all MPCI counties TX Andrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Baylor, Borden, Briscoe, Castro, Childress, Cochran, Coleman, Collingsworth, Cottle, Crosby, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Dickens, Donley, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Gaines, Garza, Glasscock, Gray, Hale, Hall, Hardeman, Hartley, Haskell, Hockley, Howard, Jones, Kent, King, Knox, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Mitchell, Motley, Nolan, Parmer, Randall, Runnels, Scurry, Stonewall, Swisher, Taylor, Terry, Wheeler, Wichita, Wilburger, Yoakum Sorghum CO all MPCI counties KS Atchinson, Barton, Brown, Clark, Dickinson, Doniphan, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Gove, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jefferson, Kearney, Lane, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Marion, Marshall, Meade, Morton, Nemaha, Ness, Pottawatomie, Rice, Riley, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Seward, Stanton, Stevens, Trego, Wallace, Wichita, Wyandotte MO Bates, Cass, Cedar, Henry, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, St. Clair, Vermon NE, OK all MPCI counties SD Aurora, Beadle, Brule, Buffalo, Gregory, Hand, Hughes, Hyde, Jerauld, Jones, Lyman, Mellette, Sully, Todd, Tripp Soybeans IA, IL, IN all MPCI counties KS, MI, MN all MPCI counties MO, NE, OH all MPCI counties OK, SD, TX all MPCI counties Wheat AL, AZ, AR all MPCI counties CA, CO, GA all MPCI counties IA, ID, IL, IN all MPCI counties KS, KY, LA all MPCI counties MI, MN, MO all MPCI counties MS all MPCI counties MT Blaine, Broadwater, Cascade, Chouteau, Daniels, Fergus, Glacier, Golden Valley, Hill, Judith Basin, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Meagher, Musselshell, Petroleum, Phillips, Pondera, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Teton, Toole, Wheatland, Valley NC all MPCI counties ND Barnes, Cass, Dickey, Dunn, Eddy, Foster, Griggs, Kidder, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh, McKenzie, McLean, Mercer, Oliver, Ranson, Richland, Sargent, Sheridan, Steele, Stutsman, Traill, Wells NE, NM, OH all MPCI counties OK, OR, SC all MPCI counties SD, TN, TX all MPCI counties UT, VA, WA all MPCI counties WI, WY all MPCI counties # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. 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