Farmers Pleased With Clarified Rules on Prevented Planting Insurance

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Insurance agents and farmers say they're pleased with efforts by the federal Risk Management Agency to clarify rules for prevented planting insurance.

The insurance pays farmers if their cropland is too wet or dry to plant. But they must meet certain rules to qualify, and confusion over those rules led many Upper Midwest farmers to wonder if they would qualify on land they couldn't plant last spring because of wet weather.

North Dakota's congressional delegation asked the Risk Management Agency to clarify the rules, and the agency has done so starting with the 2014 crop year. RMA Administrator Brandon Willis met with North Dakota farmers on Tuesday about the changes.

Both the North Dakota Farmers Union and the North Dakota Corn Growers Association say they're happy to see the changes.