On August 31, 2015, the United States Department of Agricultural
(USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced an expansion of the agency’s
Rainfall Index Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) pilot program. As a result, PRF “will now be available [to
livestock producers] in all 48 contiguous states beginning with the 2016 crop
year.”
As with other crop insurance programs, PRF is designed
to provide farmers and ranchers with a “safety net” that allows the
agricultural producers the ability to better withstand “bad years.” Under PRF,
a rainfall index is utilized to determine pasture, rangeland, and forage
losses, and to trigger any indemnity payments.
Importantly, “PRF is an area based plan of insurance” and is “not based on
individual rain gauges on [a] farm or a single weather station.” The current
use of a rainfall index replaces the previously utilized vegetation index.
To be eligible for PRF, livestock producers must
sign-up for the program by November 15, 2015.
A list of insurance agents that provide PRF is available at the USDA RMA Agent Locator webpage.
More information regarding this crop insurance
program is available on the PRF webpage.
No comments:
Post a Comment