(NAFB.com) – Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced several new USDA initiatives while at Minnesota Farmfest aimed at helping farmers manage ongoing economic and production challenges. The actions include plans to modernize USDA data systems, provide additional flexibility for crop insurance premium payments, and expand prevented planting coverage. “We’re modernizing how USDA serves farmers, providing commonsense flexibility when it’s needed most, and strengthening the risk management tools producers depend on,” Rollins said. The Risk Management Agency is also allowing approved insurance providers to offer up to 60 additional days for producers to pay crop insurance premiums due between July and September. In addition, farmers will again have the option to purchase an extra five percent of prevented planting coverage beginning with the 2027 crop year.