Pasture, Rangeland, Forage
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 conditions. Buying an insurance policy is one risk management
option.
Rainfall Index
The rainfall index 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 in Idaho, Colorado, North
Dakota, Texas, South Carolina and Pennsylvania for 2007 crop year.
Vegetation Index
The vegetation index is based on the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources
Observation and Science (EROS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)
data derived from satellite observing long-term changes in greenness of
vegetation of the earth since 1989. The program divides the country into six
regions due the different weather patterns, with pilots available in select
counties in Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma,
Texas, South Carolina and Pennsylvania for 2007 crop year.
Note: Terrorism is not an exposure covered by Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
on any of the Federally reinsured crop insurance policies (RA, MPCI, CRC,
etc.). These policies cover losses due to drought, flood, or other
natural disasters.
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