Farmers may now be eligible for further protection against damaging tropical storms. After hearing directly from agricultural producers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding its Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) Endorsement with a Tropical Storm Option. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) will offer this option for the 2023 crop year.
RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger says during the past few years, many farmers have felt the impacts of tropical activity, and it’s important that her department offer risk management tools to protect agricultural producers and their operations.
HIP-WI was first available for purchase for the 2020 hurricane season and covers a portion of the deductible of the underlying crop insurance policy when the county, or an adjacent one, is hit with sustained hurricane-force winds from a named hurricane based on data from the National Hurricane Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). RMA has now added the Tropical Storm Option to this endorsement for damage caused by strong weather systems not categorized as hurricanes.