Today is Aug.31, 2026. Today also marks the day when the Risk Management Agency (RMA) publishes the new County Base Values for your Rainfall Index policies, or what are known as Pasture Rangeland Forage (PRF) policies.

If you have followed this column, then you also know that we are starting to have issues with the policy in Texas, when it comes to Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) and the loss ratios in the past few years. Last year, there were AIP’ that chose not to write in Texas any longer. Others still saw it as an opportunity to heavily decrease the commission rates that we, the agents, use to service your policies.

Meanwhile, the RMA chose to increase our workload even more by requiring us as agents to maintain current copies of every lease on every leased property that we have insured. So, more work for less pay.

At the current rate of decline, we will soon begin to see agencies pull out of Texas, just as the AIPs have. And this wouldn’t be a good thing for producers.

What is bothersome about this issue is for a program to work long term, it has to work for everyone—the producer, the agent, and the AIP. If it stops working well for the producer, he just won’t sign up for it any longer. If it doesn’t work for the agent, the producer will have a difficult time finding someone to offer a policy. And if the AIPs loss ratios get too high, there is no one left to offer the policy.

It is RMA’s responsibility to look after all entities: the producer, the agent and the AIP. It must work for everyone if it is to work for anyone in the long term. But it seems that the RMA is irrationally focused only for the producer.

Let me share with you the reason why. There are two primary factors that dictate to actual premium cost of your policy: the County Base Value and the Premium rate value determined by the RMA for each interval and policy coverage level. County Base Values are a value that is placed in your county for the value of Grazing only land, hayland and irrigated hayland.

And I can tell you that for over 10 years, these values have not changed. Nor do they for 2027! If you lease country, I’m betting your lease has gone up over the last 10 years.

Now let’s talk about premium rates. I have done a spot check on two different Texas Counties: Henderson in East Texas and Zapata County in South Texas. The first thing you need to know is that for each grid, interval and coverage level, the RMA has determined a premium rate multiplier that is used for each one.

For both counties I used the 85% coverage level and checked on two different intervals that I know to be very volatile in Texas—July/August and the October/November intervals. So, if you have a homeowners policy along the coastline where numerous hurricanes have hit in the past, would you not expect to pay a premium higher than someone in central Texas where no hurricanes, few tornadoes and hailstorms occur? More perils, more premium right?

Well you would think so.

So, my study started back with 2024 and goes through the new rates just set by the RMA for 2027. Now before I begin, If I told you that AIPs are pulling out of Texas, then it should stand to reason that premium rates for 2027 to be higher for those volatile intervals right?

Henderson County

2024                                                           2025                       2026                       2027

July/August – .2057                        .2105                      .2115                      .1915

Oct/November – .2033               .2019                      .2019                      .1892

Henderson County

2024                                                           2025                       2026                       2027

July/August – .2985                        .299                         .2961                      .2529

Oct/November – .2583               .2553                      .2606                      .2477

Looks like rates are going down for 2027 right? Meaning that you as the producer will have less premium that needs to be covered by indemnities before it begins to pay you!

In order for a program like PRF to continue to work long term, it must be actuarially sound. According to the AIP’, it no longer is. But if you look at what RMA has done to rates, they are at least making some claims that certain premium rates for certain grids and certain intervals have been too high!

I will leave you with a final question. If we can’t get a government agency like RMA to understand it has to work for everyone, what makes you think that we can make our President Donald Trump, who I voted for and would so again, to understand that mandating 25% lower prices on imported ground beef does not work well for everyone?

Somewhere between slim and none!