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Section 133 of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act (ARPA) of 2000, Public Law 106-224, amended the Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIA) to add section 524 (a) (3), which requires the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), to establish a competitive grants program for the purpose of educating agricultural producers about the full range of risk management activities. This section lists activities including: futures, options, agricultural trade options, crop insurance, cash forward contracting, debt reduction, production diversification, farm resources risk reduction and other risk management strategies. Legislation
Section 12026 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the FICA act by requiring the Secretary to place special emphasis on risk management strategies, education, and outreach specifically targeted at: (A) beginning farmers or ranchers; (B) legal immigrant farmers or ranchers that are attempting to become established producers in the United States; (C) socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers; (D) farmers or ranchers that (i) are preparing to retire; and (ii) are using transition strategies to help new farmers or ranchers get started; and (E) new or established farmers or ranchers that are converting production and marketing systems to pursue new markets.
Congress used Partnerships for Risk Management Education (RME) as the name for this program to highlight the need to bring the public and private sectors together to educate producers. Regional RME Centers are expected to address the risk management needs of agricultural producers and their families particularly with regard to the following five risk management categories: production risk; price or marketing risk; human resource risk; legal (including liability and environmental) risk; and financial risk.
The Southern Region Risk Management Education Center (Southern Center) proposes to continue to promote RME partnerships between qualified public and private entities in 13 southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia), Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the next three years.
The goal of the Southern Center is to continue educating agricultural producers, particularly those who fall within the five special emphasis targets, about the full range of risk management activities as specified by Congress. To achieve this goal, the Southern Center will continue to:
- Identify risk management education needs of producers;
- Conduct and manage a competitive grants programs in southern region that funds qualified public and private entities efforts to develop and deliver risk management education to farmers and their families;
- Develop and conduct special projects for training, coordination and communication networks and develop agricultural risk management education;
- Conduct its programs in coordination with a RME Electronic Support Center (RMEESC) and three other regional RME centers; and
- Communicate and report on RME program activities and impacts.
