McKay Erickson, Redd Summit account manager, often shares a tale of two ranchers. As another dry year loomed, he relays, one rancher worried how he would feed his cows through the summer. Without enough revenue to buy extra hay, he rationed what he had and put off making improvements to his operation. Just across the fence, his neighbor was dealing with nearly the same rainfall totals, but the situation looked completely different. That rancher was investing in a new water pipeline and troughs — thanks to payments from Pasture, Rangeland and Forage, or PRF, insurance.
This and many other comparable experiences across the country have spurred interest in PRF insurance.
Adoption of PRF surged between 2020 and 2022, and has leveled into a steadier growth pattern in recent years, Erickson noted. USDA data show more than 75,000 policies are now active nationwide, with 274 million acres insured in 2024, marking a significant increase in participation compared to earlier years.
Peer Influence Drives Growth
More than the growth itself, Erickson believes the most powerful driver of adoption isn’t statistics, but neighbors watching neighbors succeed. “The more people that get PRF, the more others seem to get into it as well,” he says. “A lot of our customers are customers now because they saw their friends not struggle so much [during] a drought year, while others are going out of business.”
PRF has proven to be a valuable tool for ranchers looking to protect themselves against unpredictable weather and build resilience into their operations. At Redd Summit Advisors, an industry leader in PRF insurance, 92% of ranchers renew their policy year after year. They safeguard more than 50 million acres with PRF coverage.
Erickson says the strong renewal rate reflects the way PRF fits into the realities of ranching. Policies are flexible. Ranchers can choose coverage levels that match their risk tolerance, and indemnity payments can arrive when they are needed most. In a wet year, producers may owe their full premium, but in a drought year, indemnity payments can make the difference between buying hay and selling off cows. That reliability has kept ranchers coming back.
Confidence in USDA Support
With such high adoption rates, there has been concern that the USDA will reduce or cease subsidizing PRF coverage. For those concerned about the government’s long-term commitment to subsidies, Erickson points out that PRF represents only 7% of total crop insurance funding. According to USDA data, corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat dominate the program’s budget at subsidy rates of 32%, 18.8%, 10% and 9.7%, respectively.
“This is really the only crop insurance program that is meant for ranchers,” Erickson says. “When you look at the volume of acres to dollars, this program is getting stretched over more acres than any of the farm row-crop insurances.”
Another sign the USDA will continue to subsidize PRF coverage is that coverage has expanded nationwide, and now includes parts of Hawaii, with Alaska potentially next. “The USDA is continuing to make this program more widely accessible to people across the entire nation. There are no signs of them pulling it back as they just continue to expand it,” Erickson says.
For ranchers weighing their options, the message is clear: PRF is no longer an experiment, but a proven program with strong participation, broad support, and a track record of helping producers weather volatility.
.webp)
.svg){kind=small}
