Deadline Approaching: Annual Forage Insurance Enrollment Closes July 15

Photo by Kirsten Strough

With an enrollment deadline of July 15, 2026, farmers and ranchers only have a short time to secure coverage for RMA’s Annual Forage (AF) insurance program. Available in select states and counties, Annual Forage Insurance protects eligible annual forage crops against a lack of precipitation. Coverage is available for eligible annual forages planted between Aug. 1, 2026, and July 31, 2027.

Similar to Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) insurance, farmers and ranchers may select coverage levels ranging from 70% to 90% of expected precipitation and allocate coverage across selected two-month intervals corresponding to periods when rainfall is most important for forage production. Premiums are federally subsidized to improve affordability, and indemnities are triggered when the final rainfall index for an insured interval falls below the trigger rainfall index.

The program uses NOAA Climate Prediction Center rainfall data and a grid-based system rather than individual farm rainfall measurements to determine losses. With forage supply expected to remain tight through 2027, farmers and ranchers are encouraged to align their coverage intervals with periods when precipitation most significantly affects forage yield.