,,ii #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #bca ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,january #bc1 #bjbe,mr4 ,welch 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,warren1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,murphy1 ,mr4 ,padilla1 ,mr4 ,sanders1 and ,mr4 ,van ,hollen7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 and ,forestry ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,federal ,crop ,insurance ,act to authorize the ,federal ,crop ,insurance ,corporation to carry out research and development on a single index insurance policy1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,withstanding ,extreme ,agricultural ,threats by ,harvesting ,economic ,resilience ,act of #bjbe or the ,,weather ,act of #bjbe4 #b4 ,single index insurance policy 7a7 ,in general ,section #ebb7;c7 of the ,federal ,crop ,insurance ,act 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #aebb7;c77 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7#bj7 ,single index insurance policy 7,a7 ,definitions ,in this paragraph3 7i7 ,covered crop or commodity ,the term covered crop or commodity means any crop or commodity 7including a specialty crop7 on a farm except timber1 forest products1 animals for sport or show1 and pets4 7ii7 ,covered policy ,the term covered policy means the single index insurance policy described in subparagraph 7,b77i74 7iii7 ,covered weather condition 7,i7 ,in general ,the term covered weather condition means any of the following weather conditions that are found to be closely correlated with agricultural income losses3 7aa7 ,high winds4 7bb7 ,excessive moisture and flooding4 7cc7 ,extreme heat4 7dd7 ,abnormal freeze conditions4 7ee7 ,wildfire4 7ff7 ,hail4 7gg7 ,drought4 7hh7 ,any other severe weather or growing conditions applicable to small-scale farmers1 as determined by the ,secretary4 7,,ii7 ,data ,the existence of a weather condition described in subclause 7,i7 shall be determined by indices that prioritize using data from the ,national ,oceanic and ,atmospheric ,administration1 as available1 but may use other federally or ,state certified weather data sources1 public and private satellite data1 and weather and climate data and models1 if necessary1 as determined by the ,secretary4 7,b7 ,policy 7i7 ,in general ,the ,corporation shall carry out research and development1 or offer to enter into #a or more contracts with #a or more qualified persons to carry out research and development1 to develop a single index policy to insure against agricultural income losses due to #a or more covered weather conditions4 7ii7 ,coverage ,research and development on the covered policy under clause 7i7 shall require that coverage is available in all #ej ,states 7including ,indian ,tribes71 the ,district of ,columbia1 ,american ,samoa1 ,guam1 the ,commonwealth of the ,northern ,mariana ,islands1 the ,commonwealth of ,puerto ,rico1 and the ,virgin ,islands of the ,united ,states4 7iii7 ,option to buy-up or buy-down 7,i7 ,in general ,research and development on the covered policy under clause 7i7 shall consider permitting a holder of the covered policy to elect to buy-up to #aej percent1 subject to subclause 7,,ii71 or buy-down to #e percent1 of the median county-level adjusted gross income for farms1 in #e-percent increments1 to reflect the income of the individual farm business of the holder insured under the covered policy4 7,,ii7 ,limitation ,a holder of a covered policy may buy-up under subclause 7,i7 only if the farms of the holder insured under the covered policy have at least #c covered crops or commodities4 7iv7 ,priority features of policy ,in carrying out research and development on the covered policy under clause 7i71 the following features may be given priority3 7,i7 ,agricultural income losses under the covered policy include-- 7aa7 losses for all covered crops or commodities2 and 7bb7 losses to the value of packing1 packaging1 or any other similar on-farm activity that the ,corporation determines necessary to remove a covered crop or commodity from the field4 7,,ii7 ,payments are made under the covered policy not later than #cj days after the occurrence of a covered weather condition in the county in which the applicable farm of the farmer is located or an adjacent county4 7,,iii7 ,provision of seasonal coverage periods4 7,,iv7 ,provision of special consideration to concerns facing individual farm businesses-- 7aa7 that have less than #cej1jjj in adjusted gross income2 and 7bb7 with respect to which a farmer is an underserved producer 7as defined in section #ejh7;a77#g77;,a774 7,v7 ,paperwork requirements are reduced for farmers seeking to obtain a covered policy4 7v7 ,consultation ,in carrying out research and development on the covered policy under clause 7i71 the ,corporation-- 7,i7 shall hold stakeholder meetings to solicit producer and agent feedback2 and 7,,ii7 may consult with licensed actuaries with experience developing index policies insuring agricultural production4 7,c7 ,report ,not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this paragraph1 the ,corporation shall make publicly available a report that describes-- 7i7 the results of the research and development carried out under this paragraph2 and 7ii7 recommendations to ,congress with respect to those results1 including-- 7,i7 any challenges to developing the covered policy2 and 7,,ii7 options to address those challenges4 4 7b7 ,technical amendment ,section #eca7;a77#ah7 of the ,federal ,crop ,insurance ,act 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #aeca7;a77#ah77 is amended by striking section #beja7;e7 of the ,food1 ,agriculture1 ,conservation1 and ,trade ,act of #aiij 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #bbgi7;e77 and inserting section #beja7;a7 of the ,food1 ,agriculture1 ,conservation1 and ,trade ,act of #aiij 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #bbgi7;a7744