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 June 29. Companies have until July 12 to sign the agreement. “Our hands are tied,” said Bob Parkerson, president of National Crop Insurance Services. “The companies have no choice but to sign this SRA because, if they don’t, they cease operating and the safety net that America’s farmers and ranchers rely on so heavily would be disrupted.”