Ranchers question USDA's plan to retool drought insurance
USDA has revamped the way it determines how much in insurance payments ranchers can collect during periods when rain is scarce, leading some Western livestock producers to worry that they may be ill-equipped to withstand a long-running drought.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency, the department arm that oversees crop insurance programs, decided to overhaul the calculation used to make insurance payments under the Pasture, Rangeland, Forage policy, which covers ranchers against lost forage when rainfall amounts are less than expected.
The new formula in effect reduces county base rates, which determine how much coverage per acre a rancher can purchase. The rates are based on a statistical calculation that utilizes rental rates, hay costs and grazing fees.
At this point it’s unclear how widespread reduced payments to ranchers could be, but early estimates show that ranchers in states such as Arizona could experience as much as a 40 percent drop in coverage payouts.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/20/usda-drought-protection-insurance-795872
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