WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing payments this week to agricultural producers impacted by natural disasters, including $143 million in crop insurance indemnities for Florida producers impacted by Hurricane Milton and more than $92 million for livestock producers, nationwide, who faced increased supplemental feed costs as a result of forage losses due to 2022 qualifying drought and wildfire. The payments for Milton-impacted Florida producers are for those who have Federal crop insurance coverage through the Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement and the Tropical Storm (TS) option. These crop insurance payments are part of USDA’s broader support to help producers after Hurricane Milton. The payments for livestock producers are through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) 2022, and are a second round of payments to producers using remaining funds in the program.
“Florida farmers, livestock producers and forest landowners have been hit hard by hurricanes this year, and we’re continuing our efforts to help producers recover following hurricanes like Milton,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “We’ve used a number of flexibilities following hurricanes Debby and Helene, and we’re extending those to producers impacted by Hurricane Milton and future named storms. Additionally, today’s payments for America’s livestock producers serve as another example of how we’re leveraging every available resource to help as many people as possible on the road to recovery.”
Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index
Producers with Federal crop insurance coverage through the Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement and the Tropical Storm (TS) option will see payments from their Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) in the next 30 days. Under this insurance option, producers will receive over $143 million in indemnities for hurricane-related losses from Hurricane Milton. These payments will directly help farmers and rural communities recover.
In total, over $776 million in payments have been issued under HIP-WI in 2024. With the payments from Milton, Florida producers will have received about $340 million since HIP-WI became available in 2020.
Producers do not need to file a claim to receive an indemnity payment under HIP-WI. If a county is triggered, the AIP will issue an indemnity payment in the coming weeks. Triggered counties were identified by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) in Product Management Bulletin 24-069 and will also be available in the county’s actuarial documents. Eligible producers will receive a HIP-WI indemnity payment in addition to any applicable indemnity payments due to them through their underlying crop insurance policy.
Additional Crop Insurance Support
Producers with crop insurance coverage beyond HIP-WI will see indemnity payments in the coming weeks. If you have Federal crop insurance, contact your crop insurance agent as soon as crop or livestock losses are apparent.
Due to the catastrophic damage that Hurricane Milton caused as well as the continuing impacts in the southeast from hurricanes Debby and Helene, RMA authorized emergency procedures to help producers with hurricane-related losses. RMA is working with crop insurance companies to streamline and accelerate the adjustment of losses and issuance of indemnity payments to crop insurance policyholders in impacted areas. RMA’s emergency procedure flexibilities apply to all counties in Florida.
Disaster Assistance and Flexibilities
In addition to crop insurance, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offer a wide array of disaster assistance, farm loan and conservation programs. These programs can help producers recover in a number of ways, including land and private forest rehabilitation, fence loss, debris removal, animal mortality disposal and other challenges.