As harvest continues across the country, NCIS released on social media a new series of short, educational videos to help explain the history of crop insurance and why it’s essential to America’s farmers, rural communities, and food security.

The first video in the series highlights the history of investment in risk management — from crop insurance’s humble beginnings during the Dust Bowl to the modern-day public-private partnership that covers more than 540 million acres.

The following is a script excerpt that follows the journey.

Modern-day crop insurance started as an experiment in 1938 – born from the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.

For decades, participation lagged. It was limited, costly, and failed to meet farmers’ needs.

In 1980, Congress invited the private sector in – creating today’s public-private partnership. That unlocked innovation and better delivery.

Legislative incentives passed in 1994 and 2000 made coverage more affordable, expanded product options, and improved operations.

Since then, both government and private companies have invested heavily – in product development, program integrity, data processing technology, and training – to ensure that claims are fair, fast, and accurate.

The 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills cemented crop insurance as the center of farm policy and broadened coverage across more crops and practices. That’s helped achieve record participation and protection for farmers, and risk mitigation for taxpayers.

And the 2025 budget reconciliation bill strengthened the system again – funding program integrity, improving access and affordability, and making important investments to ensure actuarial soundness.

From a New Deal experiment to America’s #1 risk management tool – crop insurance works because America has invested to make it work. Congress should keep building on success.

Watch the full video here.

 Alongside the history video, NCIS also released a companion video that explains hail insurance — one of agriculture’s oldest private risk management tools dating back to Ben Franklin.

That video is available here.