It is a busy season for agriculture, not just in the fields but also on the policy front. In just the past week, for example, a major farm bill summit brought stakeholders together in D.C., while across town lawmakers posed questions to secretary of agriculture nominee Sonny Perdue. Meanwhile, another farm bill hearing was held in the House of Representatives. Crop insurance was again a major talking point with many influencers singing the program’s praises.
Here’s a roundup of some of the recent comments made about crop insurance and its importance in maintaining strong agricultural production in the U.S.:
Sonny Perdue, secretary of agriculture nominee: “To me, I think the American taxpayer gets a good value (with crop insurance). And hopefully we can work together … to make sure that the crop insurance program is sound, solid and a good economic value not only for producers but the taxpayer as well.”
Chuck Conner, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives: “Prior to a viable crop insurance program, we did have a lot of ad hoc disaster assistance that was very, very difficult for members of Congress to deal with.”
Rob Larew, National Farmers Union: “One of the big misconceptions is that (crop insurance) is a program that is somehow limited to the middle of the country … Part of the struggle here is to make sure folks recognize the diversity of support, where the support is located and that it is nationwide.”
Mary Kay Thatcher, American Farm Bureau Federation: “I think the crop insurance program has been a pretty incredible program. It’s worked really well.”
Wesley Spurlock, National Corn Growers Association: “NCGA believes that for the corn farmer who faces a high level of financial and production risks every year, (investments in new technology and more modern production practices) were made possible by a farm safety net that offers sound risk management tools and a cost-share federal crop insurance program that serves as the foundation.”
Ron Moore, American Soybean Association: “ASA’s recommendations for the 2018 farm bill begin with the need to maintain the current crop insurance program as the core risk management tool for producers of soybeans and other crops … Crop insurance isn’t broken, and it doesn’t need to be fixed.”
David Schemm, National Association of Wheat Growers: “Each year there will inevitably be producers in some part of the country that experience weather conditions outside of their control that could take out their crop. Crop insurance is critically important to enable a producer to farm another year after such an experience.”
Dan Atkisson, National Sorghum Producers: “In the highly uncertain business of farming, any certainty we can get is of tremendous value to us. This is also why crop insurance is so valuable—because of its rock-solid certainty.”
Source: National Crop Insurance Services