Ag News

USDA expands hurricane insurance protection

On April 30, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced a significant expansion of the Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement and the Tropical Storm Option (TS), making them available to producers whose crops are insured through the Written Agreement process. This change is effective for the 2027 and succeeding crop years.

Written Agreements are a critical tool that allow producers to obtain federal crop insurance for crops or practices not yet covered in a given county. By enabling HIP-WI access on Written Agreement policies, RMA is ensuring that these producers, who often grow the nation’s most diverse and economically significant specialty crops, can access the same level of catastrophic weather protection as their neighbors.

“This is a revolutionary step forward for producers who depend on Written Agreements to protect their crops,” said RMA Administrator Pat Swanson. “We heard directly from farmers and agents, and we moved rapidly to close this gap. Producers should have access to the full range of risk management tools available to their area, regardless of how their underlying policy is established.”

Prior to this change, producers in counties where a crop, type or practice was only insurable by Written Agreement could not attach HIP-WI to their policies. Under the updated policy language, producers with a Written Agreement can add HIP-WI coverage, providing them with the same hurricane and tropical storm deductible protection available to other producers in the area.

HIP-WI covers a portion of the deductible of the underlying crop insurance policy when a county, or adjacent county, is within the area of sustained hurricane-force winds. The coverage provided by HIP-WI can be combined with the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) when acreage is also insured by a companion policy. TS is an option to the HIP-WI endorsement that provides coverage for tropical storm weather events as defined by the Hurricane Data Provisions (HDP).

The HIP-WI endorsement is available for more than 70 different crops in select counties of Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia that are in the vicinity of the Atlantic, Gulf of America/Mexico or Hawaii.

HIP-WI coverage must be purchased by the sales closing date (SCD) of a producer’s underlying policy. Sales closing dates vary by crop and location. Therefore, producers should contact an agent to verify the SCD for a crop and county. More information about HIP-WI, including available counties and crops, can be found on the RMA website.

If HIP-WI is available in a county, it will be available for all crops in that county insured under the Basic Provisions. Crops include: All Other Citrus Trees, Apples, Avocado Trees, Avocados, Banana Trees, Bananas, Barley, Blueberries, Burley Tobacco, Cabbage, Canola, Carambola Trees, Cigar Binder Tobacco, Cigar Filler Tobacco, Cigar Wrapper Tobacco, Clams, Clary Sage, Coffee, Coffee Trees, Corn, Cotton, Cotton Ex Long Staple, Cranberries, Cucumbers, Dark Air Tobacco, Dry beans, Fire Cured Tobacco, Flue Cured Tobacco, Forage Production, Forage Seeding, Fresh Market Beans, Fresh Market Sweet Corn, Fresh Market Tomatoes, Grain Sorghum, Grapefruit, Grapefruit Trees, Grapes, Grapevine, Green Peas, Hemp, Hybrid Corn Seed, Hybrid Seed Rice, Lemon Trees, Lemons, Lime Trees, Limes, Macadamia Nuts, Macadamia Trees, Mandarins/Tangerines, Mango Trees, Maryland Tobacco, Nursery Value Select (NVS), Oats, Onions, Orange Trees, Oranges, Papaya Trees, Papayas, Peaches, Peanuts, Pears, Pecan Trees, Pecans, Peppers, Popcorn, Potatoes, Processing Beans, Rice, Rye, Sesame, Shellfish (Oysters), Soybeans, Strawberries, Sugarcane, Sunflowers, Sweet Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Tangelos, Tangerine Trees, Tangors, Tomatoes, Triticale, and Wheat.

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