A new risk-management tool for specialty crop producers would be provided under a bill offered on Feb. 10 by U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin (R-FL) and a bipartisan group of his colleagues to help the producers recover from increasingly unpredictable weather.
Rep. Franklin sponsored the Temperature Event Mitigation Policy (TEMP) Act, H.R. 7464, alongside 13 original cosponsors to direct the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to research and develop an affordable crop insurance option to cover losses caused by cold exposure and freezes.
“Despite being the backbone of our food supply, producers in Florida’s heartland still lack access to reasonably priced insurance that covers freeze events,” Rep. Franklin said. “Our bipartisan TEMP Act helps fill that gap by creating a temperature-based index policy that gives all specialty-crop producers a workable, affordable option when cold weather strikes.”
The legislation would direct the RMA to develop an index-based policy that reflects actual temperature impacts to give growers a practical tool to manage risk and recover more quickly after damaging cold spells, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Franklin’s staff.
The measure has garnered support from the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, and Florida Citrus Mutual.
“Specialty crop growers on the Central Coast know all too well the devastation a single freeze can bring, yet existing crop insurance often fails to cover cold weather losses,” said U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA), the lead original cosponsor of H.R. 7464. “This legislation will give farmers in California and across the country the tools they need to safeguard their livelihoods.”
Among other cosponsors of H.R. 7464 are U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Laurel Lee (R-FL), Kat Cammack (R-FL), and Vern Buchanan (R-FL). U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) is leading companion legislation in the Senate.