Reports Set Framework for Improvement to Organic Crop Insurance Programs
The USDA Risk Management Agency released three reports that provide the framework for improvements to crop insurance programs available to producers of certified organic crops. According to a press release, USDA will issue organic price elections for the 2011 crop year for cotton, corn, soybeans and processing tomatoes. “USDA is working to provide producers of […]
Crop Insurance Industry Testifies Before House Committee on Agriculture Hearing Comes on Heels of Crop Insurance Companies Signing SRA, Industry Remains Concerned About Preserving Farm Safety Net
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 22, 2010 OVERLAND PARK, KAN, July 22, 2010… Bob Parkerson, president of National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS), testified today on behalf of the crop insurance industry before the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. “The federal crop insurance program is the largest part of the federal […]
Vilsack says insurance firms will accept cuts
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he expects most if not all crop insurance companies to sign an agreement that will reduce the industry’s profits. “This is a fair deal and it’s reflected in the fact that we’re seeing a number of companies being prepared to accept the terms and conditions,” Vilsack said on a conference call […]
Crop insurance companies offered a new reinsurance agreement
USDA Risk Management Agency Administrator Bill Murphy said June 30 that his agency has sent crop insurance companies a revised final offer of a new standard reinsurance agreement and gives the companies until July 12 to sign it. The original deadline was June 30. After a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing Murphy said that he had made concessions […]
Crop Insurers Will ‘Withstand’ Severe Subsidy Cuts
Crop insurers said late Thursday the industry and the crop insurance program will be able to “withstand” the severe cuts in subsidies imposed on the program by the Agriculture Department. “Our hands are tied. The companies have no choice but to sign this new Standard Reinsurance Agreement,” said Bob Parkerson, president of National Crop Insurance Services, […]
Negotiations May be Complete, but Industry Remains Vexed By the Funding Reductions in Final SRA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 1, 2010 OVERLAND PARK, KAN… The crop insurance industry and the program will withstand the $6 billion reduction in funding handed to them by the USDA’s final Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) contract released on June 29, 2010. Companies have until July 12th to sign the agreement. “Our hands are tied,” said Bob […]
Crop insurers acquiescing to cuts
The nation’s 16 crop insurance companies are likely to agree to the Obama administration’s spending cuts in order to keep selling the policies, an industry representative says. Several companies are insisting on technical changes to the agreement that the firms must sign to provide the insurance, said Bob Parkerson, president of National Crop Insurance Services, an […]
Crop Insurers Hope to Convince USDA to Backtrack on Insurance Pact
The group that represents U.S. crop insurers is preparing for a June 18 meeting with officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to hash out some disagreements over the latest draft of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement — a draft the federal officials are calling final but that the insurers said they feel blindsided by. The National […]
Agent Groups Join NCIS Criticism Of Crop Insurance Program Cuts
Agent associations have joined the National Crop Insurance Services’ (NCIS) criticisms of the Obama administration’s decision to cut the federal crop insurance program by $6 billion over the next 10 years. Two national agent associations said today that the cuts could have negative effects on the future of the program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week that […]
Latest draft of crop insurance agreement cuts $6 billion, invests in deficit reduction and CRP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the third and final draft of a new agreement with the nation’s crop insurance industry today, which includes $6 billion in cuts. About $4 billion of those savings will be directed to deficit reduction, while the remaining $2 billion will be invested in expansion of the Pasture, Rangeland, and […]
