| U.S. Senator Max Baucus announced Thursday that eastern
Montana sugarbeet producers, who lost contracts with Holly Sugar because
of frost conditions, are eligible for all allowable coverage under their
federal crop insurance plans.
"Producers who provide proof that their sugarbeets were damaged by
an insurable cause of loss (freeze), and whose sugarbeets meet the
standards for rejection stated in the original sugarbeet processing
contract will finally find relief," Baucus said in a press release.
"This is a step in the right direction on the road to recovery for
our sugarbeet producing counties."
The United States Department of Agriculture issued a memorandum stating
that following an appraisal to determine production to count, sugarbeets
which are destroyed according to appropriate loss adjustment procedures,
may be determined as zero level. In addition, appraised unharvested
production (not topped or lifted) may be put to another use such as
grazing. If beets are or will be harvested for potential processing or
other uses, the claim will be finalized in accordance with the insured's
policy."
The USDA memorandum responds to an Oct. 13 letter to USDA Risk
Management Agency Administrator Ken Ackerman where Baucus and North Dakota
senators urged the USDA to assist sugarbeet producers who lost nearly
27,000 acres to frost in early October.
"As nearly 21,000 net acres are insured, we would ask that you
take every action possible under the existing terms and conditions of
these producers' federal crop contracts to help mitigate the impact of
this crisis," Baucus wrote.
"Time is of the essence. The ripple effect could be devastating to
our sugarbeet counties if we don't act immediately." |