The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced a $209,000 Partnership Award to CAS to educate Massachusetts agricultural producers about Federal Crop Insurance Programs. The USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers the Federal Crop Insurance Program and will oversee the partnership award. 

On Monday, October 27, 2008, Custom Ag Solutions' (CAS) John Mangus and Clifton Parker participated in a stakeholder meeting for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) currently being established by the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).  The meeting was held in Washington, DC, and included dozens of participants from broad geographical and industry interests.

CAS and the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) worked together to deliver risk management and crop insurance program information to dozens of producers attending county farm bureau annual meetings in October.  The outreach was conducted as part of the USDA/RMA/CAS Targeted States Partnership to inform Massachusetts agricultural producers about the availability and benefits of Federal crop insurance programs.