H.R. 5992: Protecting Farmers from Drought Act of 2023

This bill modifies insurance coverage for prevented planting under the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) to create a special rule for counties experiencing extreme drought. (The FCIP provides coverage for prevented planting due to insured causes of loss, such as adverse weather conditions, drought, floods, and other natural events. Prevented planting is the inability to plant an insured crop by the final planting date or during the late planting period.)

Under this bill, the FCIP must modify eligibility requirements for prevented planting coverage for a county that experienced extreme drought (per the U.S. Drought Monitor) at any time during the normal planting period over the course of three consecutive years. For counties experiencing an extreme drought, the bill requires the planting of a crop once in the five most recent crop years (i.e., the 1 in 5 rule). Currently, in order to be eligible for prevented planting payments, the insured acres must have been planted, insured, and harvested at least once in the previous four crop years (i.e., the 1 in 4 rule).

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.