Photo by Jarred Eddy
U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody and Congressman Scott Franklin, both of Florida, have introduced legislation directing research and development of affordable crop insurance to cover losses caused by cold exposure and freezes. The Temperature Event Mitigation Policy (TEMP) Act introduction comes in the wake of the late January/early February freeze that caused an estimated $3.1 billion in losses to Florida’s crops.
“Many of our growers were recently left facing serious losses without access to affordable insurance options following the recent deep freeze,” Moody said.
According to Moody, the TEMP Act directs the federal Risk Management Agency to develop an index-based policy that reflects actual temperature impacts after damaging cold spells.
“Deep freezes can devastate Florida agriculture, which supplies much of America’s citrus, sugarcane and other specialty crops,” said Franklin. “We’ve seen that firsthand in Florida just weeks ago, as growers across the state worked to recover from another damaging freeze … Growers in Florida’s heartland still lack access to reasonably priced insurance that covers freeze events.” He said the TEMP Act “helps fill that gap by creating a temperature-based index policy that finally gives specialty-crop producers a workable, affordable option when cold weather strikes.”
Jeb S. Smith, president of Florida Farm Bureau Federation, said the act “would give producers a much-needed tool to manage freeze risk and protect their operations.”
Matt Joyner, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Florida Citrus Mutual,said Florida’s citrus growers have no meaningful options available to mitigate freeze risk. “This legislation is more important than ever in equipping producers with the tools they need to remain resilient and sustain Florida citrus production,” he said.
“A temperature-based policy would give specialty crop producers a much-needed risk management tool and strengthen their ability to recover from increasingly unpredictable weather,” said Mike Joyner, president of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.
Read the text of the bill here.
Source: U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody
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