The United States currently comprises about 588 million acres of pasture and rangeland and 61.5 million acres of hay land. The following insurance programs for pasture, rangeland, and forage (PRF) utilize various indexing systems to determine crop condition. Also see livestock policies and resources.
News release: RMA Expands PRF Insurance Availabiity for 2008
(Sep 6, 2007)
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.
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.
Forage Production Index -
is based on NASS county level hay yield data (all hay or alfalfa hay). The index reflects how much hay is produced relative to the long-term trend for the county. Coverage is available for forage production in select counties.
Net Hay Production
Index has been terminated beginning with the 2009 crop year.
Archive
For more information regarding these programs, please contact
a qualified crop insurance agent.
For more information regarding the contents of this page, please contact:
RMA.KCVIRI@rma.usda.gov.
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