Hoeven: USDA Restoring Prevented Plant Buy-Up Option for Producers

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today secured agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to restore the prevented plant buy-up option under crop insurance. At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, the senator and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins discussed the importance of the buy-up option to provide producers an additional layer of certainty when disasters prevent planting, with Secretary Rollins agreeing to restore the 5% buy-up option. Hoeven thanked Secretary Rollins for working closely with him to restore the crop insurance tool, which is used by producers across the nation. Hoeven led the charge in Congress to restore the provision, including: A bipartisan effort with Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) of the Senate Agriculture Committee to outline to USDA the importance of the buy-up option, which provided additional coverage for more than 67 million acres across the country in 2025. Making the case for the provision with administration officials from USDA Secretary Rollins and Under Secretary Richard Fordyce to officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). “Given the challenges facing farm country, we worked very hard to restore this prevented plant buy-up option to provide our producers with an additional layer of protection when disaster prevents them from planting their fields,” said Hoeven. “We worked closely with Secretary Rollins and Under Secretary Fordyce on this issue, and very much appreciate their efforts to restore this option for our producers. This is an important tool that has been utilized by producers to cover more than 67 million acres across the nation., including 10 million in North Dakota.” -###-