MIDDLESEX, Vt. (WCAX) – State lawmakers want to make sure Vermont farmers are covered when natural disasters hit.
Sen. Peter Welch visited the Roots Farm Market in Middlesex to talk about the Withstanding Extreme Agricultural Threats by Harvesting Economic Resilience or WEATHER Act.
It would require the USDA to develop an index-based insurance policy that is more responsive to crop and income losses as a result of extreme weather.
After the July floods, Vermont faced more than $16 million in losses and damages, and the freeze in May caused another $10 million in losses.
Welch says farmers need this since agriculture is so important to Vermont.
“Whether it is climate change or whatever the cause is, if we don’t help our farmers through something that’s a weather event, that’s beyond their control, they won’t farm another day. So we need our farmers, they feed us,” said Welch, D-Vermont.
Welch says when farmers would apply, insurance would be based on their last year’s earnings.
