On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture approved HR 267, a bill to reauthorize and enhance the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnification Program (WHIP+). The WHIP+ program serves as a permanent ad-hoc disaster payment program for farmers who suffer crop losses. The program is designed to compliment crop insurance. It was first established in 2017 and was used to cover crop losses experienced in 2017-2019. This bill would make the program available for the 2020 and 2021 crop years, and include additional commodities and weather scenarios. It does come with a requirement for purchasing crop insurance coverage for future years and payment limitations for the direct payments to farmers. The bill authorizes $8.5 billion for the program.
More below:
https://agriculture.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2269
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/business-inputs/article/2021/07/27/lawmakers-offer-8-5-billion-ranging
https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/16227-house-ag-oks-85-disaster-aid-bill
https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/114001/documents/HMKP-117-AG00-20210727-SD001.pdf
https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/114001/documents/HMKP-117-AG00-20210727-SD003.pdf