Guidance to Handling Dicamba Damage Claims

If you have been to any agricultural field day, then you have heard mention of dicamba drift. Whether you are a producer or an agribusiness professional, dicamba is on the forefront of everyone’s’ mind. Some states have outright banned the chemical’s use while others have provided extra guidance on how to apply the herbicide. Whether you farm in the Midwest or the Mid-south, dicamba is an issue that must be addressed. The yield loss from dicamba drift is not yet known and will be unique for each drift occurrence.

Since there is a potential for yield loss, producers may be asking what role does crop insurance play in all this. The USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) provided some guidance on their website on how they will treat dicamba injury. This information was just released a few weeks ago and lists how dicamba will be handled by RMA. First and foremost, dicamba injury is not an insurable loss. Any loss due to chemical injury from a third party or directly from a producer cannot trigger an indemnity payment.

Although dicamba injury is not an insurable loss, the RMA has provided a workaround for damaged acres. Farmers can have acres that have been damaged by dicamba drift excluded from their Actual Production History (APH). The process includes contacting your crop insurance provider to have the damaged assessed prior to harvest. Farmers should notify their crop insurance providers for any suspected dicamba injury.

For more information on how dicamba drift will be handled by RMA, producers need to visit www.rma.usda.gov/help/faq/dicamba.html.