The federal government is expanding its drought insurance program to ranchers on Hawaiʻi Island.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that its Pasture, Rangeland and Forage rainfall index insurance program will include Hawaiʻi in 2025.
The insurance is meant to protect ranchers who lose foraging grass because of a lack of expected rainfall.
“We are always looking at the unique needs and situations that our producers have in different parts of the country so that we can adjust and develop crop insurance resources for their particular situations,” said Marcia Bunger, administrator for the USDA’s Risk Management Agency, in a statement.
“Rather than relying on a blanket across-the-country approach, we looked at ways to collect and analyze weather information and outcomes specific to our producers in Hawaiʻi," she said.
The insurance program doesn’t cover ongoing or severe drought, or measure production. Instead, it uses a rainfall index to determine coverage.
The USDA said that pasture, rangeland and forage cover 55% of land in the country.
