Former RMA Administrator Opines on Crop Insurance Critics
Kenneth Ackerman, a former Administrator of the USDA’s Risk Management Agency, recently published an article entitled Top Priority for the 2018 Farm Bill: Protect Federal Crop Insurance. We thought the piece summed up the current political debate surrounding crop insurance well, and wanted to share it more broadly. Ackerman, who currently works at OFW Law, […]
President Trump Wants an ‘On-Time’ Farm Bill with Crop Insurance
It’s been more than 25 years since a sitting U.S. President addressed the American Farm Bureau Federation. But President Donald Trump made up for lost time with a rousing speech yesterday to the Farm Bureau convention in Nashville. From tax and trade to immigration and infrastructure improvements, he touched on a myriad of important issues […]
‘Don’t Mess with Crop Insurance’
“Don’t mess with crop insurance.” The phrase has become a battle cry among farmers in the Midwest, especially as legislators headed out for listening sessions and town halls ahead of the next farm bill. And so far, legislators are hearing the message. That’s the opening of a recent Farm Futures article about crop insurance. The […]
University Researchers: Limiting Crop Insurance Cuts Deep
“Such a policy would likely impact farms that had high levels of off-farm income from a spouse and or other business activities,” according to Barnaby and Taylor. Furthermore, because most farmers’ incomes are tied to crop prices, some growers could be ineligible in some years and eligible in others, creating a compliance nightmare for the USDA and farmers alike.
GAO Forgets Its Own Lesson in Proposing Crop Insurance Cuts
In the wake of weather disasters in 1983, 1984 and 1988, U.S. agriculture was struggling, and an unparalleled farm debt crisis was only compounding the problem. Back then, the federal government responded differently to agricultural crises. There was no overall strategy to deal with recurring farming disasters, and responses were generally reactive and after-the-fact. So, […]
Farm Credit Services Report Touts Crop Insurance
Crop insurance saved nearly 21,000 jobs in four states during one of the worst droughts in two decades, according to a report from Farm Credit Services of America. The 20-page paper breaks down the history of the crop insurance program from the start in 1930s, with the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, to expansions in […]
Eliminating Farm Policy Punishes America and Rewards Foreign Competitors
The news has been full of foreign subsidy stories lately – whether it’s the trade case America filed against China for excessive corn, wheat and rice subsidies, complaints about Thailand’s sugar subsidy scheme, or the WTO reporting growth in trade restrictions around the globe. It is under this backdrop that some of U.S. agriculture’s […]
Praise in High Places for Crop Insurance
From South Dakota to Washington, D.C., crop insurance received praise in high places for its ability to help farmers and ranchers withstand the perils of growing food and fiber. “Crop insurance provides protection against the one thing that even the most resilient farmer cannot defeat – the wrath of Mother Nature,” wrote Scott VanderWal, the […]
New Video Spotlights Public Support for U.S. Farmers, Farm Policy
America’s farmers and farm policies, including crop insurance, receive overwhelming, bipartisan support from voters, according to a new video released today by National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS). The video comes after the Republican and Democratic parties wrapped up their national conventions, moving America into the heart of the election season. “As the first Tuesday in […]
A Secure Nation Begins with a Secure Food Supply
“I firmly believe that America’s first line of defense is our ability to feed and clothe the people,” Major General Darren G. Owens warned the House Committee on Agriculture during a recent hearing that focused on testimony from military leaders to highlight the link between agricultural production and national security. Maj. General Owens continued to […]
