The GRAPE Act (Grape Research And Protection Expansion Act) would add a new crop-insurance policy for grapes to address losses from freezing events. The bill requires the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) to conduct research and development, or contract with qualified researchers, to develop a policy insuring table grapes, wine grapes, and juice grapes against freeze damage. If the policy meets existing requirements, FCIC must make it available within 18 months. The act also requires FCIC to report to Congress within 2 years on the research results and which policies were made available. The bill would expand the crop-insurance program to explicitly include grapes as a covered crop facing freeze risk, with defined timelines for development, availability, and reporting.
Key Points
- 1Creates a new policy category for table, wine, and juice grapes to insure against losses from freeze events.
- 2Requires FCIC to carry out R&D or contract for R&D within 1 year of enactment to develop the grape freeze-insurance policy.
- 3Requires making the policy available within 18 months if it meets the conditions in section 508(h) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act, despite certain existing requirements.
- 4Adds the grape policy to the list of insured crops through a new subsection (20) to section 522(c) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act.
- 5Requires FCIC to submit a report to the House and Senate Appropriations and Agriculture committees within 2 years detailing research results and descriptions of policies made available.