Producers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio who want to insure corn, sweet corn, popcorn, hybrid seed corn, processing pumpkins, soybeans, processing beans or grain sorghum following a cover crop must:

·Stop haying or grazing the cover crop by May 10, 2013; and

·Terminate all cover crop growth at least seven days before the final planting date for the spring crop you are planting.

Additionally, producers are required to terminate a cover crop before planting the spring crop. Producers with a history of planting into a living cover crop may apply for a written agreement to allow insurance for this practice.

In areas where double-cropping is insurable, producers may be able to insure soybeans, processing beans and grain sorghum without meeting the requirements above. However, additional rules and higher premium rates apply.

Brian Frieden, Director of the Risk Management Agency’s Springfield Regional Office urges producers to contact their insurance agent if they have questions about insuring spring crops following cover crops. Agents can provide information specific to an area and situation.

The Risk Management Agency is the part of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the federal crop insurance program. Private insurance companies, which the Risk Management Agency approves, sell and service the policies. These companies have crop insurance agents who work with producers directly. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers or on the RMA web site at: http://www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agent.html.