BULLETIN NO.:  MGR-97-016

TO:      All Reinsured Companies
         All Risk Management Field Offices
         FSA Headquarters, Program Delivery and Field Operations

FROM:    Kenneth D. Ackerman
         Administrator

SUBJECT: Extension of the Sales Closing, Acreage Reporting, and the 
         Cancellation and Termination Dates for 1998 Florida Citrus Fruit 
         Insurance  

ISSUE:

Agents have requested additional time to explain the changes in the Florida 
citrus fruit crop insurance program to growers.  This would require extending 
the sales closing, acreage reporting, and the cancellation and termination 
dates for the 1998 crop year.  

BACKGROUND:

Since 1996, concerns have been raised regarding the differences in the final 
date by which Florida citrus insureds could change their policy coverage.  
The sales closing date of August 15, and the cancellation and termination 
dates of April 30, differed and caused discrepancies in service options 
between carryover and new insureds.  Also, the late sales closing date, which
occurred in the middle of the hurricane season, created an unacceptable 
insurance risk.  On January 22, 1997, the Risk Management Agency issued a 
new Florida Citrus Fruit Crop Insurance Policy for the 1998 crop year that 
consolidated all three dates at April 30.  The new policy also changed the 
maximum deductible, the coverage level, and the rating structure. 

ACTION:

The sales closing, acreage reporting, and cancellation and termination dates 
for the Florida citrus fruit crop insurance program are extended to 
May 30, 1997, for the 1998 crop year only.