LUBBOCK, TX (RFD News) — Producers using annual forages to manage drought, feed needs, or water shortages have until July 15 to purchase Annual Forage Insurance for the 2027 commodity year. K-State economist Jennifer Ifft says the coverage applies to eligible crops planted from August 2026 through July 2027.
Annual Forage Insurance is based on a rainfall index. Payments can be triggered when local precipitation falls below selected thresholds within a grid of roughly 14 by 16 miles.
Producers choose a coverage level, productivity factor, and covered intervals within the growing season. Higher productivity factors increase premiums and potential indemnities, while lower factors reduce both.
While a similar rainfall-index option called Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) insurance spans all 48 contiguous states and covers over 270 million acres, Annual Forage participation remains a distinct niche. It is designed exclusively for producers who intentionally plow and plant annual crops (such as winter wheat, oats, or millet) for livestock feed, rather than maintaining permanent, perennial pastures.
The program is explicitly restricted to counties in eight states (Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, and North Dakota), and participation totals roughly 7.2 million enrolled acres nationally.
