Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2025

Senate Bill

S. 2643

119th Congress

Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2025

In Committee

Introduced:Aug 1, 2025

Primary Sponsor

Ben Luján

D - NM

Cosponsors

2

Quick Stats

Policy Area

Agriculture and Food

Summary

This bill would make it easier for farmers in counties experiencing extreme drought to receive crop insurance payments for crops they were unable to plant due to the drought. It would change the eligibility rules so that farmers only need to have planted a crop once in the past 5 years, instead of the current requirement of once in the past 4 years.

Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill would make it easier for farmers in counties experiencing extreme drought to receive crop insurance payments for crops they were unable to plant due to the drought. It would change the eligibility rules so that farmers only need to have planted a crop once in the past 5 years, instead of the current requirement of once in the past 4 years.

Last updated: 12/30/2025

Official Summary

Congressional Research Service summary

Protecting Farmers from Drought Act of 2023This bill modifies insurance coverage for prevented planting under the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) to create a special rule for counties experiencing extreme drought. (The FCIP provides coverage for prevented planting due to insured causes of loss, such as adverse weather conditions, drought, floods, and other natural events. Prevented planting is the inability to plant an insured crop by the final planting date or during the late planting period.)Under this bill, the FCIP must modify eligibility requirements for prevented planting coverage for a county that experienced extreme drought (per the U.S. Drought Monitor) at any time during the normal planting period over the course of three consecutive years. For counties experiencing an extreme drought, the bill requires the planting of a crop once in the five most recent crop years (i.e., the 1 in 5 rule).  Currently, in order to be eligible for prevented planting payments, the insured acres must have been planted, insured, and harvested at least once in the previous four crop years (i.e., the 1 in 4 rule).

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

Modifies federal crop insurance to create a special rule for counties experiencing extreme drought
Reduces the crop planting eligibility requirement from 1 in 4 years to 1 in 5 years for counties in extreme drought
Aims to provide more financial assistance to farmers struggling with prolonged drought conditions

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

This bill would primarily benefit farmers in regions affected by severe, long-term drought, allowing them to more easily qualify for crop insurance payments when they are unable to plant due to the dry conditions. This could provide crucial financial support to struggling agricultural communities in drought-stricken areas of the country.

Policy Areas

Primary Policy Area

Agriculture and Food

Related Subjects

Agricultural insurance

Disaster relief and insurance

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

2643, 119th Congress (2025). "Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2025". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/118-s-2643