Crop year 2027 · sign-up deadline Dec 1, 2026

PRF insurance in Fergus County, Montana: 2027 grids, values and record

Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) is USDA’s rainfall-index insurance for grazing land and hay ground. USDA’s 2027 files offer it in Fergus County on 36 grids: 31881, 31882, 31883, 31885, 31886, 32181, 32182, 32183, 32184, 32185, 32186, 32480, 32481, 32482, 32483, 32484, 32485, 32486, 32780, 32781, 32782, 32783, 32784, 32785, 32786, 32787, 33081, 33082, 33083, 33084, 33085, 33086, 33087, 33383, 33384, 33385. It pays when precipitation in the grid over two months you choose comes in under a set share of normal.

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Grids
36
Grazing, county base value per acre
$10.30
Hay, non-irrigated, per acre
$95.00
Hay, irrigated, per acre
$15.00
January to February cap
25%
Sign-up deadline
Dec 1, 2026

USDA’s 2027 county base values, the same on every grid in the county. Protection per acre is the value times your coverage level times a productivity factor of 60 to 150: grazing at 90% and 100 is $9.27 an acre.

Example, not a recommendation: 100 acres of grazing at 90% coverage, productivity factor 100, half in April to May and half in June to July, on grid 33082, the middle of the county’s 36 grids by premium. The full premium is $133: USDA pays $68 and you pay $65, or $0.65 an acre. Run over 1951 to 2025 at 2027 rates, it would have paid in 57 of 75 years, an average of $110 a year, or $1.10 an acre. That is the past record, not a forecast, and it leaves out the administrative fee.

Montana has the native sod rule: native sod broken in recent years gets 65% of the protection and 50 points less of USDA’s share. The values here are for land the rule does not touch.

What each pair of months costs in Fergus County

At 90% coverage, across the 36 grids that touch the county: the middle grid first, then the lowest and highest. The premium is the full rate per $100 of protection; USDA pays 59% at 70%, 59% at 75%, 55% at 80%, 55% at 85%, 51% at 90%. Normal is the grid’s average precipitation for those months. A year counts, of the 75 from 1951 to 2025, when the grid’s index for those months came in under 90% of normal, which is when a 90% policy pays.

Each pair of months in Fergus County, Montana at 90% coverage
MonthsNormalPremium per $100Years under 90%
Jan-Feb1.04 in$16.73
$12.79–21.26		33
28–38
Feb-Mar1.16 in$13.32
$11.71–18.42		31
27–38
Mar-Apr2.03 in$14.43
$10.93–17.48		32
26–36
Apr-May4.21 in$14.80
$10.99–17.67		35
26–42
May-Jun5.62 in$11.10
$9.65–13.98		34
29–36
Jun-Jul4.39 in$14.02
$12.40–17.62		35
31–39
Jul-Aug3.05 in$19.71
$17.83–22.07		37
33–40
Aug-Sep2.73 in$18.49
$17.24–20.63		39
32–42
Sep-Oct2.26 in$18.41
$15.88–20.55		34
31–38
Oct-Nov1.53 in$17.29
$14.09–20.68		33
30–37
Nov-Dec1.12 in$21.00
$16.30–24.73		40
37–43

The wettest pair of months here is May to June (5.62 in on the middle grid) and the driest is January to February (1.04 in). Coverage costs least in May to June and most in November to December. The months to insure are the ones when a dry spell costs you grass or hay, not the cheapest ones.

The last five years in Fergus County, and 2026 so far

The index for each pair of months as a percent of normal (100 is a normal year), on the middle grid (each grid has its own; the calculator shows yours). Shaded cells came in under 90%, where a 90% policy on those months would have paid. 2026 shows the 6 pairs of months USDA has published so far.

PRF index by pair of months, 2021 to 2026, Fergus County, Montana
Months202120222023202420252026
so far
Jan-Feb817511810815668
Feb-Mar6264109111104180
Mar-Apr531071057767134
Apr-May70801101167273
May-Jun52741491068890
Jun-Jul3713213670133114
Jul-Aug971325261170—
Aug-Sep788310216593—
Sep-Oct2313416015073—
Oct-Nov451701284389—
Nov-Dec901045375122—

Every year since 1951, priced at 2027 rates, is in the calculator.

PRF grids in Fergus County

Each grid’s normal precipitation over a year, its driest year since 1951 as a percent of normal, 2025 as a percent of normal, and how many of 75 years as a whole came in under 90%.

PRF grids in Fergus County, Montana
GridNormal, yearDriest year2025Years under 90%Calculator
3188115.9 in2021, 62%107%27Open
3188215.3 in2021, 63%115%31Open
3188317.1 in1956, 66%123%28Open
3188513.6 in1952, 57%122%29Open
3188614.0 in1952, 53%122%29Open
3218116.2 in2021, 63%107%25Open
3218221.5 in2021, 63%113%24Open
3218324.9 in1956, 63%117%27Open
3218419.8 in2021, 63%116%25Open
3218517.3 in1952, 61%115%23Open
3218615.3 in1952, 56%114%25Open
3248015.9 in2021, 62%95%27Open
3248115.5 in2021, 62%102%24Open
3248216.8 in2021, 61%106%25Open
3248319.2 in2021, 61%107%27Open
3248419.0 in2021, 60%109%25Open
3248516.1 in2021, 60%109%25Open
3248614.7 in1952, 57%110%24Open
3278015.2 in2021, 59%90%29Open
3278115.1 in2021, 61%96%26Open
3278215.6 in1960, 59%103%28Open
3278317.3 in1960, 59%107%27Open
3278416.5 in2021, 61%107%26Open
3278515.3 in1952, 55%105%28Open
3278614.2 in1952, 54%104%26Open
3278713.7 in1952, 55%104%26Open
3308114.1 in1952, 62%95%26Open
3308213.8 in1960, 55%103%25Open
3308314.6 in1960, 53%105%24Open
3308414.7 in1952, 57%102%27Open

And 6 more grids: 33085, 33086, 33087, 33383, 33384, 33385. Each opens in the calculator.

PRF dates for 2027

  • Dec 1, 2026: sales closing. New policies and changes are due at your agent.
  • Dec 1, 2026: acreage report.
  • Sep 1, 2027: premium billed, no earlier than this.

From 2027, grazing acres need livestock you have an interest in, equal to at least 25% of the stocking rate, or no payment is due and the premium is still owed. PRF pays on the grid’s precipitation index, not on your production. How PRF works · Before you sign · PRF in Montana

PRF questions in Fergus County

When is the PRF deadline in Fergus County for 2027?

The sales closing date is Dec 1, 2026, the same across the country. The acreage report is due Dec 1, 2026, and the premium is billed no earlier than Sep 1, 2027.

Which PRF grid is Fergus County in?

Grids 31881, 31882, 31883, 31885, 31886, 32181, 32182, 32183, 32184, 32185, 32186, 32480, 32481, 32482, 32483, 32484, 32485, 32486, 32780, 32781, 32782, 32783, 32784, 32785, 32786, 32787, 33081, 33082, 33083, 33084, 33085, 33086, 33087, 33383, 33384, 33385 touch Fergus County. A grid is a quarter degree of latitude by a quarter degree of longitude, about 17 miles north to south. Your grid follows from a point inside the acres you insure; type a ZIP or coordinates in the calculator to find it.

How much does PRF cost per acre in Fergus County?

It depends on the grid, the months, the coverage level and your productivity factor. USDA’s 2027 county base value is $10.30 an acre for grazing, $95.00 for non-irrigated hay. At 90% coverage and a productivity factor of 100, grazing land is protected for $9.27 an acre, and the full premium runs $11.10 to $21.00 per $100 of protection depending on the months, on the middle grid. USDA pays 51% to 59% of the premium. In the example above, 100 acres of grazing at 90% with half in April to May and half in June to July, you pay $0.65 an acre on grid 33082. The calculator gives the figure for your acres and months.

How often has PRF paid in Fergus County?

At 90% coverage a pair of months pays when the index comes in under 90% of normal. Over 1951 to 2025, on the middle grid, that happened in 31 to 40 of 75 years, depending on the months. Run at 2027 rates, $1 of full premium at 90% would have paid back a middle $0.86 across the county’s grids and months. That is the past record, not a forecast.

By Sigurd Lindquist, a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) who owns a licensed crop insurance agency. This page sells no insurance and asks for no contact details. Figures from USDA RMA’s 2027 Actuarial Data Master and PRF index record, read Oct 12, 2026. The index record is what USDA publishes for 2027; policies in past years were paid on their own rates and data.

PRF in Montana · Fergus County in the Farmland Atlas · ARC or PLC in Fergus County · PRF calculator

Rain so far this year in Montana, county by county