WASHINGTON, D.C. – Specialty crop insurance providers are getting a $30 million dollar injection from the federal government and U.S. taxpayers.
The American Relief Act passed under the Biden administration and Congress in 2024, provided $2.65 billion in funding for specialty crops defined as “fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops, including floriculture. Much of the funds have been frozen under the Trump administration.
The USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) recently announced it will release $30 million in funding from the American Relief Act to be paid directly to agents and the 12 companies that the USDA allows to sell and service crop insurance policies, called Approved Insurance Providers.
Eight of the 12 crop insurance companies are owned by publicly traded corporations, six of which are headquartered outside of the U.S. in Japan, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada.
Of all 12 companies, only two are not owned by a parent company: Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa and Precision Risk Management, LLC. One other crop insurance company, Country Mutual Insurance Company, is owned by a large private parent company, Country Financial. The other crop insurance provider, American Farm Bureau Insurance Services, Inc., is owned by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
According to Tom Sell of the Crop Insurance Professionals Association the funding will be paid to Approved Insurance Providers and agents who have “sustained deep cuts.”
The direct payments to insurance agents and Approved Insurance Providers is additional compensation to agents based on their liabilities for eligible specialty crop insurance contracts.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency Administrator Pat Swanson said the agency is looking forward to continuing its progress in expanding crop insurance to specialty crops by engaging directly with the states and agents servicing these growers.”
A final rule implementing the $30 million payment was published in the Federal Register on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025.