LegisTrack
Back to all bills
HR 3283119th CongressIn Committee

FARMER Act

Introduced: May 8, 2025
Agriculture & Food
View on Congress.gov
Standard Summary
Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The FARMER Act would reshape federal crop insurance subsidies and the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). It creates targeted premium support for certain plans that use enterprise units or whole-farm units, increasing the subsidy available for farm-based revenue protection or yield protection when these unit structures are chosen. Specifically, the bill sets higher subsidy percentages (77% for one coverage level and 68% for another) for these enterprise/whole-farm unit plans, overriding some existing subsidy rules. In addition, the bill expands and strengthens SCO by adjusting its coverage rules and boosting the premium subsidy from 65% to 80%. It also requires a study to explore whether SCO can be modified to provide county-level coverage that sits between county-wide and individual farm coverage, for counties larger than 1,400 square miles, with a detailed report due within one year of enactment. In short, the bill aims to make certain crop insurance options more affordable and flexible for larger, unit-based farming approaches, while also expanding and investigating broader, mid-size county coverage through SCO.

Key Points

  • 1Premium support for enterprise-unit or whole-farm unit plans: If a producer elects a farm-based revenue protection or yield protection plan using enterprise units or a whole-farm unit, the government would subsidize a larger portion of the premium (77% for the F-level and 68% for the G-level, per the bill’s terminology), overriding some existing subsidy rules.
  • 2Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) adjustments: The bill changes SCO's coverage level references (reducing one value from 14 to 10 and increasing another from 86 to 90) and increases the SCO premium subsidy from 65% to 80%.
  • 3Study on modifying SCO: The bill adds a study to examine whether SCO could be expanded to provide coverage for counties larger than 1,400 square miles, at an intermediate level between county-wide and individual coverage, with a final report due to Congress within one year of enactment.
  • 4Short title and purpose: The bill would be known as the Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience Act (FARMER Act). It amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to expand premium support and to explore new SCO configurations.
  • 5Legislative status: Introduced in the House on May 8, 2025, sponsored by a group of representatives and referred to the Agriculture Committee.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Farmers who use enterprise-unit or whole-farm unit structures for revenue protection or yield protection, who would see higher premium subsidies under the new provision.Secondary group/area affected: Producers who participate in or rely on the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), since SCO would see a higher subsidy and altered coverage level mechanics, potentially expanding affordability and use.Additional impacts: The changes would impact federal crop insurance program costs and budgeting due to higher premium subsidies. The study could inform future policy decisions about the scale and design of county-level coverage, potentially altering risk management choices, coverage uptake, and portfolio risk across districts.
Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 7, 2025