USDA will provide larger disaster-aid payments for losses in 2018 than for 2019 and will offer prevent-plant bonus payments of up to 15 percent for farmers who were unable to seed crops this spring due to the heavy Midwest flooding. Farmers who lost crops to hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters in 2018 will receive 100 percent of their intended payments, while losses for 2019 will be covered at 50 percent, under rules for the disaster program that were announced Monday by USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The program, officially dubbed WHIP+, will begin sign-up today. (Agri-Pulse)