INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM: R&D-97-030
     
TO:       All Reinsured Companies
          All Risk Management Field Offices
          FSA Headquarters, Program Delivery and Field Operations
     
FROM:     Tim B. Witt         /s/ ROBERTA E. WAGGONER (for)   04/17/97
          Deputy Administrator          
     
SUBJECT:  Determination of Florida Citrus Fruit Acreage for the 1998
          Crop Year
     
BACKGROUND: 
     
The Florida Citrus Actuarial Table provides different amounts of
insurance by tree age.  The minimum insurable tree age is 5 years. 
Questions concerning the determination of insurable acreage and amount
of insurance when different ages of trees exist within the same acreage
have recently surfaced.
     
ACTION: 
     
The following instructions are to be used for determining the amount of
insurance and insurable acreage for the acreage report, the grove
inspection, and loss claims for Florida citrus fruit. These instructions
will remain in effect until incorporated into the Acreage Report
Handbook (M8-667) and the Florida Citrus Handbook (30140).
     
1. All acreage determinations/measurements for Florida citrus fruit will
   be based on land acres.  
     
2. The insured acreage cannot exceed the physical amount of land
   acreage.  If a producer interplants two citrus crops, the acreage
   will be prorated according to the percentage of the insurable land
   acres occupied by the crops interplanted.  (See policy for definition
   of "interplanted.")
     
EXAMPLE 1:  A producer has 10 acres of grapefruit planted at a
   spacing of 30 feet x 30 feet and decides to interplant with early
   oranges.  Orange trees are interplanted between the grapefruit trees
   within the row.  The tree spacing has been changed to 30 feet x 15
   feet, but there is no increase in the acreage.  There is a 5-acre
   unit of early oranges and a 5-acre unit of grapefruit, NOT 10 acres
   of each.
     
   NOTE:  The same instructions apply if more than one citrus fruit is
   planted on the same acreage; e.g., 10 acres of early (011) and
   mid-season oranges (012) (50-50 mix) does not represent 10 acres of
   early oranges and 10 acres of mid-season oranges.
     
       
3. Insurable acreage and the amount of insurance within a unit will be
   determined on a plot basis.  A plot (block) is a homogenous planting
   pattern of a citrus crop that may or may not consist of different
   tree age classes (0 to 4 years, 5 years, 6-8 years, or 9 years and
   above).  For age classes within the plot that cannot be separately
   plotted (subplots), use the age class with the greatest percentage of
   trees in the plot to determine insurable acreage and the amount of
   insurance.  If age classes within a plot can be separately plotted
   (drawn out), the insurable acreage and amount of insurance are
   determined for each age class and reported on that basis.
                 
EXAMPLE 2:  A producer has a grove of grapefruit trees.  Through
   attrition, some of the trees older than 9 years have been replaced
   with trees that are in the 1-4 and 6-8-year-old age classes.  These
   trees are planted in a random pattern in a 30- x 30-foot tree
   spacing.  Separate plots, by age class, cannot be determined.  The
   9-year or older trees represent the largest percentage in the plot;
   therefore, the grove will be insured as 9-year-old trees.   
     
   If a specific plot could be identified for any age group listed
   above, that age group MUST BE separately reported to determine the
   guarantee and insurable acreage.
     
   NOTE:  The unit may consist of several plots of the same citrus crop. 
   Each unit and each   plot (subplot) within a unit must be separately
   listed and the amount of insurance and insurability determined
   accordingly.