The United States currently produces about 163 million pounds of honey each year. The following insurance programs utilize various indexing systems to assess plant growth and vigor, which correlates to honey production.

2009

Rainfall Index (RI) - is based on weather data collected and maintained by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. The index reflects how much precipitation is received relative to the long-term average for a specified area and timeframe. The program divides the country into six regions due to different weather patterns, with pilots available in select counties.

• Apiculture Fact Sheet (PDF)
• County Availability (PDF): Map | Text
• Basic Provisions (PDF)
• Policy Provisions (PDF)
• Insurance Standards Handbook (PDF)
• Grid ID Locator: Interactive Map
• Grid ID Locator: Latitude/Longitude Lookup
• RI and VI Reports (requires Grid ID from above)
• Decision Support Tool
• Historical Indices

Vegetation Index (VI) - is based on the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data derived from satellites observing long-term changes in greenness of vegetation of the earth since 1989. The program divides the country into six regions due to different weather patterns, with pilots available in select counties.

• Apiculture Fact Sheet (PDF)
• County Availability (PDF): Map | Text
• Basic Provisions (PDF)
• Policy Provisions (PDF)
• Insurance Standards Handbook (PDF)
• Grid ID Locator: Interactive Map
• Grid ID Locator: Latitude/Longitude Lookup
• RI and VI Reports (requires Grid ID from above)
• Decision Support Tool
• Historical Indices

For more information, please contact a qualified crop insurance agent.

For more information regarding the contents of this page, please contact: RMA.KCVIRI@rma.usda.gov.