The Risk Management Agency (RMA) has announced changes to the Rainfall Index Plan Common Policy (RI Basic Provisions), effective August 31, 2025, for the 2026 crop year.

RMA has revised sections 6(d)(3) and 9(d) of the RI Basic Provisions to clarify:

  • Insurable land must be owned or leased.
  • Leases or lease certification forms (LCFs) must be signed and submitted on or before the acreage/colony reporting date (ARD) and must be effective for the crop year.

The ARD for 2026 Pasture, Rangeland, Forage, and Apiculture policies is December 1, 2025.

RMA acknowledges that not all leases are written, therefore, insureds without written leases may certify those leases using a Lease Certification Form.

With the new requirements, insureds must identify leased land using one of the following:

  • Address
  • Farm Service Agency (FSA) Number
  • Legal Description
  • Latitude and Longitude

Only one descriptor is needed to meet this requirement.

For multi-year or continuous leases, a lease or LCF does not need to be resubmitted annually at ARD during the lease term unless the policy is canceled, terminated, or replaced with a new one. If a lease expires or changes, a new lease or LCF must be signed and submitted. In addition, a multi-page LCF allowing certification of all applicable leases with a single signature is acceptable if the pages are clearly numbered and all leases are submitted on time.

For policies using the RI Basic Provisions with a contract change date of August 31, 2025, RMA has extended the deadline to submit leases or LCFs to April 1, 2026. Failure to submit by this date will result in full premium owed and no indemnity payable in accordance with section 16(d) of the RI Basic Provisions. It’s important to note that this extension does not change the ARD, leases must still be in place by December 1, 2025, ARD for the insured to have an insurable interest, and documentation requirements for reviews by either the AIP or RMA are not altered as a result of this bulletin. For more information, click the following hyperlink: MGR-25-008: Implementation of Rainfall Index Lease Requirements.