Farmers Belong on a Tractor, Not Under the Bus
By Mark Gerdes One of the beauties of life in our great democracy is that spirited debate about important public policies is not only expected, it’s encouraged. One of the intrinsic rules of these discussions, if they are to be productive and fair, is that the policy itself should be scrutinized from every angle without […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Tom & Mike Audet, Orwell, Vermont
Ledge Haven Farm might be one of those Vermont farms that would be most likely to end up on a postcard. The place is just about everything you would think of when you put the words Vermont and agriculture together. The 550-acre farm, owned by brothers Tom and Mike Audet, is a family-run dairy and […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Jimmy Miller, Interlachen, Florida
For centuries, blueberries were gathered from the dense forests and bogs by northeastern U.S. Native Americans, and they are one of the only fruits we consume that are native to North America. So when most of us hear about blueberry farms, we conjure up images of cool, damp climates and cold winters. Jimmy Miller’s blueberry […]
Crop Insurance: An Approach That Better Fits This Nation’s Fiscal Reality
The historic drought that wilted the corn and soybean fields of Illinois and other Midwest states was one of the costliest events to hit rural America in decades. As the nightly news reported, losses on farms in large swaths of the Midwest were staggering, with some farmers having such low yields that harvesting was a […]
New NCIS Video: Criticisms Against Farmers Who Purchase Crop Insurance Naïve, Untrue
Critics who said that farmers who purchased crop insurance were “praying for drought, not praying for rain” or were “laughing all the way to the bank” during last summer’s historic drought were strongly rebuked by farmers, crop insurance agents and claims adjusters in a new video released by National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS). Marvin Andris, […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Trent Patterson, Lake County, Tennessee
For Trent Patterson, 2012 was a very dry year. Drought parched much of Tennessee, where he farms about 4,500 acres planted to cotton, corn, soybeans and wheat. The drought forced farmers like Patterson to switch crops from the flagship cotton to soybeans, which requires less agricultural inputs. With crop insurance as part of most farmers’ […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Whitney Blodgett, Shoreham, Vermont
Whitney Blodgett has been farming in the family’s Vermont apple orchard, commercially known as “Sentinel Pine Orchard,” his whole life. Blodgett says that the family purchased the orchard in 1964, and have since grown, adding the abandoned dairy farm next door. Sentinel Pine Orchard, is comprised of 220 acres of apple trees, mostly planted in […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Cash Ruane, North Clarendon, Vermont
It’s perhaps no great coincidence that Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream was founded in Burlington, Vermont, given that dairy is the Green Mountain State’s largest agriculture industry. Cash Ruane, from North Clarendon, Vermont, is one of those Vermont dairy farmers. Cash has been farming his whole life, starting his own farming business with his beloved […]
Crop Insurance Helped Mississippi Farmers See Yet Another Spring
The state of Mississippi and farming are so intertwined that it is hard to imagine one without the other. Agriculture is not only our state’s number one industry; it employs roughly one-third of our population, contributing $5.8 billion to the state’s economy. There are approximately 42,000 farms in the state covering 11 million acres, producing […]
Mid Atlantic Lender Sold On Crop Insurance
Kenny Bounds feels strongly about crop insurance. “For ag lenders, crop insurance is portfolio insurance,” says Bounds (56), the Government Affairs Officer for Mid Atlantic Farm Credit, which serves five states. Bounds has been in ag lending for his entire career and lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. “I tell our producers that anyone who self-insures […]
