WASHINGTON–U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in reintroducing the Withstanding Extreme Agricultural Threats by Harvesting Economic Resilience (WEATHER) Act, legislation that calls for the development of an index-based insurance policy more responsive to crop and income losses faced by farmers as a result of extreme weather. This would be especially beneficial to small farmers in Connecticut following unprecedented floods in July 2023 and July 2024.

“Farmers in Connecticut are increasingly dealing with more extreme weather, and we need to make sure they don’t face extra burdens when the next disaster strikes,” said Murphy. “The WEATHER Act would simplify the recovery process by using weather data to trigger automatic insurance payouts, helping farmers get back on their feet quickly with less red tape.” 

“A new normal of thousand-year storms every year has caused chaos for farmers across the country—ruining crops and destroying land—and in recent years, Connecticut farms have been devastated by extreme weather events, including severe flooding and unprecedented droughts. With this essential legislation, we work to improve our farm safety nets for producers in order to make sure they receive the support they need to weather the storm and keep their farms thriving,” said Blumenthal. 

Unpredictable weather events exacerbate risks associated with farming, necessitating responsive crop insurance policies. However, producers often opt out of crop insurance due to administrative burdens, high premiums, and low payouts. The WEATHER Act works to better support farmers facing income losses after extreme weather events by reducing administrative hurdles and ensuring that insurance payouts are based on agricultural income losses. The legislation would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use its insurance research and development authority to research the possibility of developing an index-based insurance program that: 

  • Creates a multi-peril index insurance product for farmers based on weather indices correlated to agricultural income losses using data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), satellites, climate models, and other data sources. 
  • Pays out within 30 days in the event of indices exceeding any of the pre-determined county-level thresholds for the following events: High winds, excessive moisture and flooding, extreme heat, abnormal freeze conditions, hail, wildfires, drought, and other perils the Secretary determines appropriate. 

A one-pager is available HERE. Full text of the bill is available HERE. 

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