The chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture said he opposes the administration proposal for a 17 percent cut in crop insurance funding. Farm income is projected to fall this year, said chairman Robert Aderholt of Alabama, and cuts in crop insurance would make it harder for farmers to secure operating loans from bankers. “I join my fellow colleague Mike Conaway, who is the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, in requesting that we not adversely change the rules of the farm bill. And I certainly do not want to do so through the appropriations process,” said Aderhold in a statement at a hearing on the USDA budget.
The White House proposed a lower premium subsidy for revenue policies that reflect harvest prices and to adjust payment rates on claims for prevented planting. “The proposals represent a balanced approach to reducing the cost of the program while maintaining a strong safety net to protect producers from natural disasters and price fluctuations,” said USDA’s budget summary. The government pays 63 cents of each $1 of crop insurance premiums. The program is forecast to cost nearly $9 billion a year.