On July 21, 2026, USDA announced its intention to restore the prevented planting (PP) buy-up option under the Federal Crop Insurance Program after eliminating it through the Expanding Access to Risk Protection rule for the 2026 crop year. The buy-up option allows producers to increase prevented planting coverage by 5 percent above the standard coverage factor, providing additional protection against weather-related planting delays. This brief reviews the policy reversal, summarizes the regulatory and legislative developments leading to the restoration, and synthesizes evidence from recent Agricultural Risk Policy Center research on the performance of the buy-up option. Historical program data indicate that policies electing buy-up coverage did not exhibit higher aggregate underwriting losses than comparable policies without the option. Using USDA Risk Management Agency data, the brief also documents the geographic and commodity concentration of buy-up use, showing that benefits have been greatest in the Prairie Pothole Region, particularly for corn and soybean producers in North Dakota and South Dakota. Finally, the brief discusses the implications of USDA's announcement for producers, lenders, and crop insurers, while highlighting the key implementation decisions that the Risk Management Agency must address before restoration can take effect for the 2027 crop year.
Chakravorty et al. (2026) studied this question.
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