Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar led a bipartisan letter Wednesday urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reinstate additional crop insurance coverage for acres prevented from being planted.

The Arkansas Republican and Minnesota Democrat, along with senior committee member John Hoeven of North Dakota, wrote to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asking the department to reverse its decision to end prevented-planting buy-up coverage.

“Eliminating the option for producers to purchase additional buy-up coverage for prevented planting is troubling, especially at a time when our farmers need access to all risk management tools available to them,” the senators wrote.

The USDA’s decision affects over 67 million acres across all 50 states and all covered commodities in 2025 alone, according to department data cited in the letter.

The senators say the buy-up coverage is critical for farmers nationwide when bad weather prevents them from planting on time. It allows farmers to purchase additional insurance beyond basic prevented planting protection.

The senators noted that while Congress has provided disaster assistance for prevented planting losses in the past, such assistance is not guaranteed. They referenced federal law requiring the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to offer additional prevented planting coverage beginning with the 1995 crop year.

The letter was signed by 14 senators total, including Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and senators from both parties representing major agricultural states.

The senators asked USDA to allow producers access to additional prevented plant coverage for 2027 and beyond to provide certainty when disasters beyond their control prevent planting.

Source - https://www.valleynewslive.com