Transitional Organic Grower Assistance Program (TOGA)

Transitional Organic Grower Assistance Program (TOGA) 

 

What is this program?

Are you a producer transitioning to organic or maybe you already grow a certified organic grain or feed crop? Are those crops covered with Federal crop insurance? If the answer is yes, you can get premium assistance from the USDA for the 2023 reinsurance year through the Transitional and Organic Grower Assistance (TOGA) Program.

 

How can I use this program?

Discounts on premium billing statement are automatically applied:

• For crops in transition to being certified organic, producers can receive an additional 10% insurance premium subsidy
• For certified organic grain and/or feed crops, producers can receive $5 premium assistance per insured acre
• Additional 10% premium subsidy for all Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) policies covering any number of crops in transition to organic or certified organic practice crops, producers who have additional individual crop insurance policies will also receive the applicable premium assistance on those policies.

 

Who or what is eligible and what are the eligibility requirements?

Eligible applicants:

• Producers must be transitioning to organic farming or grow a certified organic grain or feed crop covered by federal crop insurance
• To be eligible for TOGA, producers must purchase an additional coverage policy (a policy with higher coverage than catastrophic level)

Eligible crops and insurance policies:

• Eligible crops must be insured during the 2023 reinsurance year. That means policies with a sales closing date from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023
• Eligible organic grain and feed crops are: alfalfa seed, barley, buckwheat, canola, corn, cultivated wild rice, dry beans, dry peas, flax, forage production, forage seeding, fresh market sweet corn, grain sorghum, hybrid corn seed, hybrid popcorn seed, hybrid sorghum seed, hybrid sweet corn seed, millet, oats, crops insured under the Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage policy, peanuts, popcorn, rice, rye, safflower, sesame, silage sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, sweet corn, triticale, and wheat
• If a producer purchases an underlying policy and an additional endorsement, the TOGA premium subsidy only applies to the underlying policy. Therefore, TOGA subsidy will not apply to premiums owed on Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO), Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index (HIP-WI), Post-Application Coverage Endorsement (PACE), Margin Protection (MP), and Stacked Income Protection (STAX) (unless it is a stand-alone policy)

 

Are there any deadlines?

No, but TOGA coverage only applies to applicable insurance policies with sales closing dates from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

 

Is there anything else I should know?

• You will automatically receive the premium assistance on the premium billing statements for the 2023 reinsurance year*, which covers applicable policies with sales closing dates from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023
• The subsidy benefit will not exceed the total premium amount owed, and payment will not be received if the calculated subsidy amount is greater than the premium bill
• You can receive assistance from TOGA and other premium subsidy programs at the same time

*Note: For many crops, the 2023 reinsurance year is also the 2023 crop year. However, some crops are in the 2023 reinsurance year but cover a different crop year (e.g., raisins, California avocados, macadamia nuts, several citrus crops).

 

How do I apply?

There is no enrollment paperwork. You will automatically receive assistance for eligible crops and insurance policy premiums.

 

 

 

Page last updated: May 2, 2023