I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8611 

To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 

and the Federal Crop Insurance Act with respect to transitioning producers from the noninsurance crop assistance program to whole farm 

revenue insurance. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2024 

Mrs. HAYES (for herself, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. HIMES, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. NEAL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 

Ms. ADAMS, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform 

Act of 1996 and the Federal Crop Insurance Act with 

respect to transitioning producers from the noninsurance 

crop assistance program to whole farm revenue insurance. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Save Our Small Farms 

5 Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATION AND OPERATION OF NON2 INSURED CROP ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

3 Section 196 of the of the Federal Agriculture Im4 provement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(C)— 

7 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

8 inserting ‘‘best facilitates’’ after ‘‘assistance 

9 program that’’; 

10 (B) in clause (i)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘best facilitates’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

13 (C) in clause (ii)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘ensures’’; and 

15 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

16 and inserting a semicolon; and 

17 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(iii) the expansion of crops listed on 

19 the National Crop Table of the Farm Serv20 ice Agency with a local average market 

21 price; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) the voluntary graduation of pro23 gram participants to the whole farm rev24 enue insurance plan established under the 

25 section 522(c)(7) of the Federal Crop In26 surance Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)(7)).’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph 

2 (4) to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(4) STREAMLINED APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

5 establish a streamlined process for the submis6 sion of records and acreage reports under para7 graphs (2) and (3) for— 

8 ‘‘(i) diverse production systems, such 

9 as those typical of urban production sys10 tems; 

11 ‘‘(ii) other small-scale production sys12 tems; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) direct-to-consumer production 

14 systems, including— 

15 ‘‘(I) reduced acreage report re16 quirements; and 

17 ‘‘(II) allowing 2 reports so as to 

18 accommodate a second, later acreage 

19 reporting date. 

20 ‘‘(B) ON-RAMP TO WHOLE FARM REVENUE

21 INSURANCE PLAN.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

23 producer of diverse production systems de24 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i) that may be 

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1 ance plan established under section 

2 522(c)(7) of the Federal Crop Insurance 

3 Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)(7)), the Secretary, 

4 acting through the Director of the Farm 

5 Service Agency, shall establish a stream6 lined revenue-based option, designed to as7 sist such producer to, on a voluntary basis, 

8 transition from the noninsured crop dis9 aster assistance under this section to the 

10 whole farm revenue insurance plan. 

11 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The stream12 lined revenue-based option established 

13 under clause (i) shall— 

14 ‘‘(I) offer a premium discount of 

15 25 percent for the first crop year that 

16 a producer— 

17 ‘‘(aa) certifies that the pro18 ducer will transition from non19 insured crop disaster assistance 

20 under this section to the whole 

21 farm revenue insurance plan es22 tablished under section 522(c)(7) 

23 of the Federal Crop Insurance 

24 Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)(7)) not 


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1 later than 3 years after the date 

2 of the certification; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) provides revenue his4 tory with respect to such crop 

5 year; 

6 ‘‘(II) offer a premium discount of 

7 50 percent in the crop year succeeding 

8 the crop year described in subclause 

9 (I) if the producer— 

10 ‘‘(aa) certifies that the pro11 ducer will transition from non12 insured crop disaster assistance 

13 under this section to the whole 

14 farm revenue insurance plan es15 tablished under section 522(c)(7) 

16 of the Federal Crop Insurance 

17 Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)(7)) not 

18 later than 2 years after the date 

19 of the certification; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) provides revenue his21 tory with respect to such crop 

22 year; and 

23 ‘‘(III) offer a premium discount 

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1 ceeding the crop year described in 

2 subclause (II) if the producer— 

3 ‘‘(aa) purchases insurance 

4 under the whole farm revenue in5 surance plan established under 

6 section 522(c)(7) of the Federal 

7 Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 

8 1522(c)(7)) not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of the certification; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(bb) provides revenue his12 tory with respect to such crop 

13 year. 

14 ‘‘(iii) TAX FORM SCHEDULE F.—The 

15 Secretary shall accept the Internal Rev16 enue Service Tax Form Schedule F with 

17 respect to a producer for purposes of es18 tablishing revenue history under clause (ii). 

19 ‘‘(iv) REVENUE HISTORY SHARING.— 

20 The Secretary shall submit to the Federal 

21 Crop Insurance Corporation the revenue 

22 history submitted to the Secretary pursu23 ant to clause (ii). 

24 ‘‘(C) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 

25 days after the date of the enactment of the 


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1 Save our Small Farms Act of 2024, the Sec2 retary shall issue regulations to ensure that 

3 premium discounts under this paragraph are 

4 only available to producers that comply with 

5 this paragraph.’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(5) NOTICE OF LOSS.—Producers of hand-har9 vested or rapidly-deteriorating crops may submit 

10 losses of such crops to the Secretary after the 120- 

11 hour period following such losses and be eligible for 

12 assistance under this section. 

13 ‘‘(6) APPRAISAL OF LOSS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

15 permit, when an appraisal of crop acreage is re16 quested (by a producer or determined necessary 

17 by a State agricultural official or Farm Service 

18 Agency State executive director) in a year that 

19 a notice of loss is filed, particularly in cases 

20 where a loss adjuster is not available within 72 

21 hours of the notice, the following alternatives to 

22 an in-person appraisal by a loss adjuster: 

23 ‘‘(i) Remote appraisal, including time24 stamped photographs, drone footage, or 

25 other technology applications. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) Appraisal by field office staff of 

2 the Farm Service Agency with requisite 

3 training, in conjunction with remote ap4 praisal. 

5 ‘‘(B) TRAININGS.—For purposes of sub6 paragraph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall require 

7 field office staff to attend a noninsured crop 

8 disaster assistance appraisal training.’’; 

9 (4) in subsection (e)(3), by striking ‘‘65 per10 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘100 percent’’; 

11 (5) in subsection (i)(2)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

15 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) in the case of a limited resource, be18 ginning, veteran, or socially disadvantaged 

19 farmers or rancher, or a farmer or rancher par20 ticipating in the revenue-based option estab21 lished by subsection (b)(4)(B), $600,000.’’; 

22 (6) in subsection (k)(2)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘or a veteran’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘a veteran’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘, or a farmer or rancher 

2 participating in the revenue-based option estab3 lished by subsection (b)(4)(B)’’ before the pe4 riod at the end; 

5 (7) in subsection (l), by amending paragraph 

6 (3) to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(3) PREMIUM DISCOUNT.—The coverage made 

8 available under this subsection shall be available to 

9 limited resource, beginning, and socially disadvan10 taged farmers, as determined by the Secretary, and 

11 veteran farmers or ranchers, and a farmer or ranch12 er participating in the revenue-based option estab13 lished by subsection (b)(4)(B), in exchange for a 

14 premium that is 25 percent of the premium deter15 mined under paragraph (2).’’; and 

16 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(m) DELIVERY.—The Secretary shall work with out18 reach and technical assistance providers, extension offices, 

19 and State departments of agriculture to advertise non20 insured crop disaster assistance, particularly to limited re21 source, beginning, veteran, and socially disadvantaged 

22 farmers and ranchers, and farmers and ranchers of di23 verse production systems eligible to participate in the rev24 enue-based option established by subsection (b)(4)(B).’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. WHOLE FARM REVENUE PROTECTION. 

2 Section 522(c) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 

3 U.S.C. 1522(c)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

6 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

8 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(D) increase participation by producers— 

11 ‘‘(i) marketing direct-to-consumers; 

12 ‘‘(ii) marketing through intermediated 

13 sales in local and regional markets; or 

14 ‘‘(iii) using farm identity-preserved 

15 marketing.’’; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (7)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or 

18 in combination with’’ after ‘‘in lieu of’’; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

20 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

21 by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

22 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

23 the end; 

24 (iii) by redesignating clause (ii) as 

25 clause (iii); and 


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1 (iv) by inserting after clause (i) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(ii) utilize a resource-conserving crop 

4 rotation; or’’; 

5 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

6 ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

7 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

8 subparagraph (H); and 

9 (E) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(F) MODIFICATIONS TO IMPROVE EFFEC12 TIVENESS FOR SPECIALTY CROPS AND DIVERSI13 FIED FARMS.—Not later than 180 days after 

14 the date of enactment of the Save Our Small 

15 Farms Act of 2024, the Corporation shall im16 plement the following modifications to the plan 

17 developed under subparagraph (A): 

18 ‘‘(i) Establish that Internal Revenue 

19 Service Tax Form Schedule F shall be suf20 ficient for the establishment of historical 

21 adjusted revenue, subject to the condition 

22 that approved insurance providers may re23 quest additional verifiable records in cases 

24 where there is documented evidence that 


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1 the farm tax records of the applicant are 

2 incomplete. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Prohibit an approved insurance 

4 provider from adjusting the revenue guar5 antee after the approved insurance pro6 vider accepts the revised farm operation 

7 report, unless the approved insurance pro8 vider, in coordination with the Risk Man9 agement Agency, identifies indicators of 

10 potential fraud. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Expand the option for signifi12 cantly less paperwork and recordkeeping to 

13 producers with not less than $1,000,000 in 

14 gross revenue. 

15 ‘‘(iv) Raise the limit on growth expan16 sion for all producers to the lower of— 

17 ‘‘(I) 100 percent of historic rev18 enue; and 

19 ‘‘(II) $500,000. 

20 ‘‘(v) Expand the diversification pre21 mium discount to apply to not fewer than 

22 10 commodities. 

23 ‘‘(vi) Moderate the impact of disaster 

24 years by— 


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1 ‘‘(I) counting payments made 

2 under the noninsured crop disaster as3 sistance program established by sec4 tion 196 of the Federal Agriculture 

5 Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 

6 (7 U.S.C. 7333); or 

7 ‘‘(II) using an assigned yield 

8 floor similar to the limitation de9 scribed in section 508(g)(6)(A)(i), as 

10 determined by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(vii) Increase agent incentives to 

12 market whole farm revenue protection 

13 by— 

14 ‘‘(I) providing annual additional 

15 administration and operating sub16 sidies, at a rate determined by the 

17 Secretary, to approved insurance pro18 viders for any new whole farm revenue 

19 policies written in a given year; and 

20 ‘‘(II) with respect to a whole 

21 farm revenue protection policy, requir22 ing approved insurance providers to 

23 pay to the agent who sold that policy 

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1 tration and operating subsidy earned 

2 on that policy. 

3 ‘‘(viii) Provide for additional edu4 cational and training opportunities to ap5 proved insurance providers and insurance 

6 agents. 

7 ‘‘(G) TRANSITION FROM NONINSURED

8 CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE.— 

9 ‘‘(i) PREVIOUS NAP-PURCHASES.—In 

10 the case of a producer that participated in 

11 noninsured crop disaster assistance under 

12 section 196 of the Federal Agriculture Im13 provement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 

14 U.S.C. 7333) in each of the 3 crop years 

15 preceding the date of the enactment of this 

16 subparagraph that enrolls in a whole farm 

17 insurance plan under this paragraph for 

18 the first crop year beginning after the date 

19 of the enactment of this subparagraph, the 

20 Corporation shall provide a premium dis21 count of 35 percent with respect to such 

22 first crop year. 

23 ‘‘(ii) ON-RAMP PARTICIPANTS.—In the 

24 case of a producer that meets the require25 ments of subsection (b)(4)(B) of section 


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1 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improve2 ment and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 

3 7333) and enrolls in a whole farm insur4 ance plan under this paragraph, the Cor5 poration shall provide a premium discount 

6 of 30 percent with respect to the first year 

7 in which such producer is so enrolled.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. SINGLE INDEX INSURANCE POLICY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 522(c) of the Federal 

10 Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)) is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(20) SINGLE INDEX INSURANCE POLICY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(i) COVERED CROP OR COM15 MODITY.—The term ‘covered crop or com16 modity’ means any crop or commodity (in17 cluding a specialty crop) on a farm except 

18 timber, forest products, animals for sport 

19 or show, and pets. 

20 ‘‘(ii) COVERED POLICY.—The term 

21 ‘covered policy’ means the single index in22 surance policy described in subparagraph 

23 (B)(i). 

24 ‘‘(iii) COVERED WEATHER CONDI25 TION.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term 

2 ‘covered weather condition’ means any 

3 of the following weather conditions 

4 that are found to be closely correlated 

5 with agricultural income losses: 

6 ‘‘(aa) High winds. 

7 ‘‘(bb) Excessive moisture 

8 and flooding. 

9 ‘‘(cc) Extreme heat. 

10 ‘‘(dd) Abnormal freeze con11 ditions. 

12 ‘‘(ee) Wildfire. 

13 ‘‘(ff) Hail. 

14 ‘‘(gg) Drought. 

15 ‘‘(hh) Any other severe 

16 weather or growing conditions 

17 applicable to small-scale farmers, 

18 as determined by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(II) DATA.—The existence of a 

20 weather condition described in sub21 clause (I) shall be determined by indi22 ces that prioritize using data from the 

23 National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

24 Administration, as available, but may 

25 use other federally or State certified 


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1 weather data sources, public and pri2 vate satellite data, and weather and 

3 climate data and models, if necessary, 

4 as determined by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(B) POLICY.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation 

7 shall carry out research and development, 

8 or offer to enter into 1 or more contracts 

9 with 1 or more qualified persons to carry 

10 out research and development, to develop a 

11 single index policy to insure against agri12 cultural income losses due to 1 or more 

13 covered weather conditions. 

14 ‘‘(ii) COVERAGE.—Research and de15 velopment on the covered policy under 

16 clause (i) shall require that coverage is 

17 available in all 50 States (including Indian 

18 Tribes), the District of Columbia, Amer19 ican Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of 

20 the Northern Mariana Islands, the Com21 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin 

22 Islands of the United States. 

23 ‘‘(iii) OPTION TO BUY-UP OR BUY24 DOWN.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Research and 

2 development on the covered policy 

3 under clause (i) shall consider permit4 ting a holder of the covered policy to 

5 elect to buy-up to 150 percent, subject 

6 to subclause (II), or buy-down to 5 

7 percent, of the median county-level 

8 adjusted gross income for farms, in 5- 

9 percent increments, to reflect the in10 come of the individual farm business 

11 of the holder insured under the cov12 ered policy. 

13 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—A holder of 

14 a covered policy may buy-up under 

15 subclause (I) only if the farms of the 

16 holder insured under the covered pol17 icy have at least 3 covered crops or 

18 commodities. 

19 ‘‘(iv) PRIORITY FEATURES OF POL20 ICY.—In carrying out research and devel21 opment on the covered policy under clause 

22 (i), the following features may be given 

23 priority: 

24 ‘‘(I) Agricultural income losses 

25 under the covered policy include— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) losses for all covered 

2 crops or commodities; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) losses to the value of 

4 packing, packaging, or any other 

5 similar on-farm activity that the 

6 Corporation determines necessary 

7 to remove a covered crop or com8 modity from the field. 

9 ‘‘(II) Payments are made under 

10 the covered policy not later than 30 

11 days after the occurrence of a covered 

12 weather condition in the county in 

13 which the applicable farm of the farm14 er is located or an adjacent county. 

15 ‘‘(III) Provision of seasonal cov16 erage periods. 

17 ‘‘(IV) Provision of special consid18 eration to concerns facing individual 

19 farm businesses— 

20 ‘‘(aa) that have less than 

21 $350,000 in adjusted gross in22 come; and 

23 ‘‘(bb) with respect to which 

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1 ducer (as defined in section 

2 508(a)(7)(A)). 

3 ‘‘(V) Paperwork requirements are 

4 reduced for farmers seeking to obtain 

5 a covered policy. 

6 ‘‘(v) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out 

7 research and development on the covered 

8 policy under clause (i), the Corporation— 

9 ‘‘(I) shall hold stakeholder meet10 ings to solicit producer and agent 

11 feedback; and 

12 ‘‘(II) may consult with licensed 

13 actuaries with experience developing 

14 index policies insuring agricultural 

15 production. 

16 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

17 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 

18 the Corporation shall make publicly available a 

19 report that describes— 

20 ‘‘(i) the results of the research and 

21 development carried out under this para22 graph; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) recommendations to Congress 

24 with respect to those results, including— 


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1 ‘‘(I) any challenges to developing 

2 the covered policy; and 

3 ‘‘(II) options to address those 

4 challenges.’’. 

5 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 531(a)(18) 

6 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1531(a)(18)) 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘section 2501(e) of the Food, Agri8 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 

9 2279(e))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2501(a) of the Food, Ag10 riculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 

11 2279(a)).’’. 

Æ 


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