By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent

BROWNSTOWN, Ind. — Jackson County farmers have been dealt a double blow this spring: Record rainfall, along with heavy flooding from the swollen White and Muscatatuck rivers.

“At one point, we were 75 percent underwater,” said Jackson County extension Director Richard Beckort. But that’s normal, he added, considering the county’s topography, and that flood-prone areas flood almost every year.

“Crops are getting in now, but we’re running two to three weeks late,” he added, though to his knowledge, no crop has been flooded out.

Beckort’s counterpart in Decatur County, Dan Wilson, said Friday the ground was still too wet for planting in his area. The county planting rate is at 15-20 percent, and no seed corn dealers have seed in the ground yet.

Wilson said, “Everybody is a little nervous and trying to be cautious. I tell (the farmers), ‘I can hold your hand, but don’t jump off a cliff.’”

Last week, for example, Gov. Mitch Daniels declared a flood disaster emergency in 34 Indiana counties.

Brian Frieden, director of the Springfield, Ill., regional office of the Risk Management Agency (RMA), reminds producers faced with questions on prevented planting, replant or crop losses this spring to contact their agent for more information. Producers who are unable to plant an insured crop by the final planting date because of an insurable cause, such as excess moisture and flooding, have a number of options:

•Plant the insured crop during the 25-day late planting period with a reduction in the production guarantee of 1 percent a day for each day planting is delayed after the final planting date

•Leave the acreage idle and receive a full prevented planting payment, or the insured may be able to plant the acreage to another crop after the late planting period and receive a reduced prevented planting payment

•Those with double-cropping history can receive a full prevented planting within the guidelines of the policy

Prevented planting coverage will not be provided for any acreage that does not constitute at least 20 acres or 20 percent of the insurable crop acreage in the unit. Producers need to keep in mind that group policies do not provide prevented planting coverage.

“Agricultural producers who are unable to plant due to excess moisture need to contact their insurance company to discuss prevented planting policy requirements related to their specific coverage and farming operation,” Frieden said. “The producer’s insurance company will make the final determination of acres eligible for prevented planting payments or outline other options, if any are available.”

Producers who have acreage that is now damaged because of excess moisture or flooding should notify their insurance company of the crop damage. The company will give permission to replant the acreage if it is practical to do so.
If it is not practical to replant the acreage, the company may give permission for the producer to put the acreage to another use, abandon the crop or destroy the crop. Permission to replant, abandon or destroy any insured crop must be given in writing before the producer takes any action.
Frieden encourages producers to contact their crop insurance agent for assistance. They can also obtain crop insurance information on the Web at www.rma.usda.gov