10.14.19

Hoeven: We Worked to Provide Ag Coverage in Disaster Supplemental for Blizzard

WHIP+ Covers Farmers in Disaster Declared Counties

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today outlined disaster assistance coverage for North Dakota producers impacted by the early blizzard. As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, Hoeven worked to ensure that the disaster relief legislation passed in May included more than $3 billion for USDA to cover crop losses stemming from 2018 and 2019 disasters and to provide coverage for losses due to excessive moisture and snowfall under the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+) program. 

Counties with a presidential or secretarial disaster declaration are automatically eligible for WHIP+. Producers who are not in counties with a declared disaster may also be eligible, but must supply documentation establishing that crops were directly impacted by a qualifying disaster event. While some counties in North Dakota have a disaster declaration for spring flooding, in order to be automatically eligible, a new declaration will have to be issued for these counties to cover losses due to the snowfall.

Hoeven spoke with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky to outline the challenges facing North Dakota producers and to ensure that USDA works with producers impacted by disasters. The senator also spoke with North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and FSA State Executive Director Brad Thykeson about assisting the state’s producers. 

“Extremely wet conditions this fall and the early blizzard have only compounded the challenges facing our producers,” said Hoeven. “We worked to ensure that the disaster assistance legislation passed by Congress earlier this year provides coverage for producers impacted by blizzards and I have already spoken with Deputy Secretary Censky to outline these challenges and the need to assist our producers. We continue working with USDA to provide producers with much needed assistance under the disaster supplemental we approved earlier this year.”

Additionally, Hoeven worked to secure provisions in the disaster assistance legislation to provide USDA authority to issue additional payments for producers with prevented planting claims as part of their crop insurance policy. 

WHIP+

Under WHIP+, USDA will provide assistance to producers affected by natural disasters in 2018 and 2019. Payments from the program will take into account a producer’s crop insurance coverage and size of the loss. No one will receive more than 100% the value of their crop.

Eligible Crops

  • Must be intended for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 crop years.
  • Must be eligible for either crop insurance or Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage, excluding crops intended for grazing since these losses are covered by other disaster recovery programs offered through FSA. 

Impacted farmers should contact their Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office or visit farmers.gov/recover/whip-plus for additional details.

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