Congress orders study on frost insurance for crops—but no guarantee of coverage
S. 3843 — TEMP Act · Filed by Ashley Moody (R-FL) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 11, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill directs the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) to research and develop a new frost or cold weather insurance product for crops like tomatoes, peppers, citrus, and strawberries. The FCIC can either conduct the research itself or contract with private firms to do it. Within one year, the FCIC must report to Congress on what it learned and recommend next steps. The bill does not create a new insurance program or mandate coverage—it only requires a feasibility study.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a mandate for feasibility research on a new crop insurance product, not a substantive policy change or appropriation. It is a directive to study, not to implement.
What the text implies
- The bill does not appropriate funds for the research, leaving FCIC to absorb costs from existing budget or seek supplemental appropriations—potential fiscal impact is not disclosed.
- The research mandate does not guarantee a viable product will emerge; if the study concludes frost insurance is uneconomical or uninsurable at scale, farmers gain no new protection despite the research investment.
- FCIC's authority to contract with 'qualified persons' is undefined—no criteria for contractor selection, conflict-of-interest rules, or transparency requirements are specified in the bill.
- The one-year reporting deadline is tight for comprehensive R&D; if the study is rushed or incomplete, recommendations may lack rigor, reducing their value to Congress.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Farmers in frost-prone regions could benefit from a new insurance option if the research succeeds and leads to an actual product, addressing a real gap in crop protection. However, the bill is purely exploratory—it mandates only a study and report, not implementation, funding, or guaranteed availability. The actual benefit to farmers depends entirely on future congressional action and FCIC decisions after the report.
Who stands to gain
- Research and consulting firms contracted by FCIC to conduct feasibility studies
- Potential future insurance product developers if the research leads to commercialization
Named in the bill
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, House Committee on Agriculture, Frost/cold weather insurance (proposed product)
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Feb 11, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 11, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,506 characters) on Aug 11, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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