Unlike crop producers, dairy producers in the United States
do not have access to federally subsidized insurance products
that crowd-out the market for innovative private-sector risk
management instruments such as weather-based index insurance.
Our results suggest that agricultural insurance companies
should explore the potential market for THI insurance among
dairy producers. Even accounting for spatial basis risk, THI
contracts written on a small number of locations could provide
risk-reduction benefits for dairy producers in surrounding areas.
Separate contracts for hot and cool periods will further enhance
these benefits. Premiums could be established by estimating
the distributions of THI at the selected locations. However, future
research should attempt to explicitly estimate producers’
willingness to pay for such insurance.