Expanding Access to Risk Protection (EARP)

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) is amending its regulations to implement changes required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and to update, streamline, and clarify several crop insurance policies. The changes include clarifying the harvest price methodology, deregulating regionalized program dates and moving that information to the Special Provisions, removing regulatory barriers to direct marketing, incorporating quality adjustment and claims processes, updating FCIC contact information used to request interpretations of policy, and making plain language clarifications and corrections to Subpart X--Interpretations of Statutory Provisions, Policy Provisions, and Procedures; the Area Risk Protection Insurance, Basic Provisions; the Common Crop Insurance Policy, Basic Provisions; and several Crop Provisions. In addition, the changes include removing buy-up coverage for prevented planting in the crop insurance program. The changes will be effective for the 2026 and succeeding crop years for crops with a contract change date on or after November 30, 2025. For all other crops, the changes to the policies made in this rule are applicable for the 2027 and succeeding crop years.