Farmers in six Pennsylvania counties are eligible for the "adjusted gross revenue" crop insurance program for the 2000 and 2001 crop years. The program already is available in selected counties in Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.

"The pilot whole farm insurance should work well for Pennsylvania's family farms that grow multiple crops," says August Schumacher Jr., under secretary for farm and foreign agricultural services and chairman of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation board of directors. "We've worked closely with Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Hayes, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and local farmers to make this type of protection available to producers."

An adjusted gross revenue insurance plan provides insurance based on the lesser of the individual producer's previous five-year average Schedule F tax information or the expected revenue for the insurance year. It covers all agricultural commodities produced by the policyholder.

The 2000 sales closing date for AGR in Pennsylvania is March 15. A listing of crop insurance agents is available at local Farm Service Agency offices and USDA Service Centers or at the Risk Management Agency web site at http://www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agents.