USDA Secretary Kicks Off International Crop Insurance Conference
Agricultural leaders from more than 30 nations are in America this week to discuss the challenge of feeding a growing world population and how crop insurance can help farmers rise to the task. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack was on hand to welcome the international delegation and provide his perspective. “There are […]
NCIS Outlines History of U.S. Farm Policy for International Guests
National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) today released a detailed explanation of the evolution of U.S. farm policy over the past two centuries and crop insurance’s recent rise to prominence. The paper was included in NCIS’s quarterly magazine, Crop Insurance TODAY® and was made available at an international conference of agricultural leaders who traveled to the […]
Convo 61
As a crop insurance agent who was on more than a few farms the day after Hurricane Katrina struck, I can tell you first hand that crop insurance was a financial lifeline for many farmers. Katrina hit so many farmers who had never before gone through a large-scale natural disaster that wiped out their entire […]
National Peach Council President Says Young Farmers Need Viable Crop Insurance
National Peach Council President Chalmers Carr said that he wouldn’t be in business today if it wasn’t for crop insurance. “I do not believe that you would find very many willing lenders to participate in loaning to farming operations without crop insurance being a part of it,” said Carr in a nationally distributed National Association […]
Why Farmers Need Crop Insurance
I always knew I was going to be a farmer. I grew up learning from my grandfather who turned me loose and gave me a lot of responsibility on his farm from a young age. I was driving machinery by the time I was 10-years-old and running my own harvest crew by the time I […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: John Michael Pillow, Yazoo City, Mississippi
John Michael Pillow is a fourth generation Mississippi farmer and spent the first part of his career managing his family’s farm. In 2011, Pillow decided to strike out on his own and become a full-time farmer. “Most of the 3,500 acres I planted that year were in corn, which is a crop whereby most of […]
Farmers Help Fund $14 Billion of the Farm Safety Net in 2014
Farmers who filed crop insurance claims in 2014 collectively shouldered approximately $10 billion in deductible losses before collecting any payments, according to new data unveiled recently by the National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS). When combined with the $3.9 billion spent to buy insurance coverage in 2014, farmers absorbed at least $14 billion in out-of-pocket costs, […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Craig Corbett, Soda Springs, Idaho
Craig Corbett farms malt and seed barley, along with some wheat on roughly 2,800 acres in Soda Springs, Idaho. Corbett has been farming for more than 30 years and loves what he does for a living. “It’s challenging, it seems like something new pops up every day, and it’s great being in a production-oriented business […]
Crop insurance a key for producers
My husband and I have been farming in Southeastern Colorado for more than 40 years, and during that time it’s safe to say there have been a lot of changes not only in farming practices, but also in farm policy. The biggest policy change through the years has been the affordability and availability of crop […]
Convo 59
So how do farmers gain some control over the uncontrollable and add stability to the region’s economy? Crop insurance is key. Farmers purchase protection from weather disasters and price volatility, while private-sector insurers underwrite policies, verify claims and speed assistance to farmers when it is needed most. The government, in turn, helps discount premiums to […]
