Farmers are counting on Congress to maintain risk management as a top priority in the new Farm Bill, the American Soybean Association’s president, Brad Doyle, said recently on Agri-Pulse’s Open Mic.

Congress could begin debate on the 2023 Farm Bill as early as this month. Doyle’s association represents 500,000 U.S. soy farmers on domestic and international policy issues and is surveying members this winter on farm bill topics. It plans to share with Congress a list of priorities.

“Risk management, I believe, if you look at crop insurance, is used on about 90 percent of the soybean acres in the United States. That would be devastating to take that tool away. It is a great program. It gives us financial security when disaster happens, such as a tornado or a large weather event or flooding even. So, we are going to stand by the risk management tools that we have, such as crop insurance.”

In addition to his remarks on risk management and crop insurance, Doyle spoke about the inability to find adequate inputs such as fertilizers and herbicides and how that could impact growers in 2022. He also mentioned that trade, rising inflation and labor shortages continue to be concerns for farmers across the country. You can listen to Doyle’s interview on Agri-Pulse’s Open Mic here.

Crop insurance stands ready to help farmers and ranchers during these challenging times. We thank the American Soybean Association for its support of proven risk management tools like crop insurance.