Texas landowners who rely on perennial forage to feed their livestock may want to purchase Pasture, Rangeland and Forage (PRF) Insurance to protect the income potential of these acres, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert.

The deadline to sign up is Nov. 15.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency offers the PRF program and policies covering the 2019 calendar year through crop insurance agents until Nov. 15.

Premiums are billed Sept. 1, 2019.

“Conventional crop insurance doesn’t offer much for ranchers, but they need to focus as much on risk management as farmers do,” DeDe Jones, AgriLife Extension risk management specialist in Amarillo, said.

With the pasture insurance, ranchers are not required to insure all their acres for the entire 12-month period, she said. They can choose the acres and months most important to their grazing and/or haying operations.

Payment is not determined by individual damages, but rather area losses based on a grid system. Ranchers can select any portion of acres to insure, but they must select between 11 of the two-month intervals outlined, choosing at least two and not more than six.

Jones noted coverage levels between 70 and 90 percent are available. After selecting coverage, the rancher must also choose a productivity factor between 60 and 150 percent. The productivity factor is a percentage of the established county base value for forage.

The base value is a standard rate published by the Risk Management Agency for each county. It is calculated based on estimated stocking rates and current hay prices.

Once all selections are made, insured acres are spread between time periods and a rainfall index to determine potential indemnity payments.

This index uses National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction center data to calculate the deviation from normal precipitation within an area during selected intervals, based on a standardized grid system.

Alfalfa and other irrigated hay can be insured under a PRF policy at different coverage levels and higher base values.

An online decision-support tool to help landowners determine coverage levels and intervals is available.

For more information about the insurance and how it fits into a risk management plan, contact Jones at 806-677-5600 or dljones@ag.tamu.edu.