crop insurance
Perdue’s farm bill principles: Strong on crop insurance, link work with food assistance
The 2018 farm bill, while helping “those truly in need” to get enough food, should “support work as the pathway to self-sufficiency, well-being, and economic mobility,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
NFU seeks larger funding for farm bill, stronger safety net
With farm income in a slump, the National Farmers Union asked Congress for more money for the 2018 farm bill in order to strengthen the farm safety net to offset the slump in commodity prices that began four years ago. Agricultural leaders in Congress aim for early passage of the farm bill, expected to cost around $90 billion a year, but they are off to a slower start than originally suggested.
Perdue to release farm bill principles in Pennsylvania
Two weeks after saying he would release guidelines for the 2018 farm bill "very soon," Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is expected to unveil farm bill principles while visiting Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Perdue had told American Farm Bureau Federation earlier this month to expect the outline shortly. President Trump told the group, "I support a bill that includes crop insurance," a change in tone from White House proposals last year for large cuts.
House bill expands access to crop insurance for small and beginning farmers
Minnesota Rep. Rick Nolan unveiled a bill to make crop insurance available at lower cost to beginning farmers, and to make it easier for diversified farmers to get insurance. Less than 50 percent of small farmers, including organic, livestock, fruit and vegetable, and direct-to-consumer operations, have crop insurance, says a small-farm advocacy group.
Extreme weather raises cry for crop insurance
The recent spell of extremely cold weather in the Midwest’s wheat-producing states reaffirms “the need for a 2018 farm bill and strong federal crop insurance program,” declared the High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal.
In a change of tone, Trump backs crop insurance program
Speaking to a friendly farm crowd, President Trump, who proposed a 36 percent cut in long-term funding for crop insurance last May, said he will work with Congress for a 2018 farm bill “that delivers for all of you and I support a bill that includes crop insurance.” Trump responded to the standing ovation for crop insurance by adding, "I guess you like it."
CBO lists ways to carve savings out of costly crop insurance
As Congress expanded the role of crop insurance over the past couple of decades, the cost of the federally subsidized program tripled, to $9 billion annually over the past five years. The Congressional Budget Office says that if lawmakers are worried about costs, they could alter the program to cut outlays by 25 percent or more, with the likely consequence of reducing participation in the largest program in the farm safety net.
Crop insurance rises to 31 percent of direct federal farm assistance
In 1994 and again in 2000, Congress voted for the government to pay a larger share of the premium for crop insurance subsidies, one of the reasons for increased participation in the insurance program. One measurement shows the larger role: insurance now amounts to 31 percent of direct financial assistance to farms, compared to 2 percent in 1989, according to the USDA Economic Research Service.
Small-farm group proposes $50,000 limit on premium subsidies for crop insurance
The Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs says the 2018 farm bill should improve USDA land stewardship programs, expand programs for rural economic development and beginning farmers, and target crop insurance toward small and medium-sized farms.
Stabenow questions Clovis on Russia and his campaign role
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee asked USDA nominee Sam Clovis in a letter why, as a co-chair of the Trump presidential campaign, he encouraged an off-the-record meeting with Russian government officials. The meeting was proposed by foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his repeated contacts with Russians in 2016.
Big farms account for a larger share of agricultural production
Large farms, with more than $1 million a year in gross income, nearly doubled their share of U.S. agricultural production in the past quarter-century, says USDA's Economic Research Service. As production shifted to larger farms, so did crop subsidies and crop insurance indemnities, says the ERS, which made the comparison on inflation-adjusted revenue figures.
The farm bill problem: More ideas than money to pay for them
Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, says there is a recurring challenge as committee leaders draft an outline of the 2018 farm bill: "The big problem is we haven't got any money." The Agriculture Committee appealed for additional funding early this year but the budget plan approved by Congress kept funding steady.
Iowa offers incentive to farmers who plant cover crops
Iowa, which has been embroiled in controversies over agricultural runoff and water-quality issues, has announced a novel program to give farmers who plant cover crops a $5-per-acre discount on their crop insurance over the next three years, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Small-farm coalition wants cap on crop-insurance subsidies to big producers
The federally subsidized crop-insurance program, which costs $8 billion a year, "is an unlimited, uncapped entitlement program," says a coalition of 119 small-farm, organic and land-stewardship groups in farm bill proposals at odds with large-scale agriculture. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition proposed an annual limit of $50,000 in premium subsidies for the major crops, such as corn, wheat, soybeans and cotton, and a limit of $80,000 for higher-value specialty crops, such as fruit and vegetables.
Invest in ag research, end farm subsidies and insurance, free market group says
Congress can save billions of dollars a year on the 2018 farm bill by axing crop subsidies, crop insurance and many conservation programs, says the free market American Enterprise Institute in reports issued today. Some of the money "should be re-allocated to programs that do provide U.S. households with genuine positive benefits," such as agricultural research, and the rest of the $16 billion a year "could be re-allocated to other uses, including lower tax rates," says AEI.
Coalition asks for farm bill rule: Practice stewardship to get U.S. benefits
The 2014 farm law reforged the link between federally subsidized crop insurance and land stewardship. With the 2018 farm bill on the legislative horizon, two dozen farm, wildlife, environmental, and conservation groups urged Congress to “maintain existing conservation compliance requirements as a prerequisite to receiving crop insurance, conservation and commodity program subsidies, and other farm bill benefits.”
Produce growers see less allure in crop insurance
Crop insurance is a popular safeguard for row-crop farmers, but “a lot of the nation’s vegetables and fruit crops aren’t covered,” says Bloomberg in an examination of crop insurance data in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. “Only 34 percent of vegetable acreage [is] covered, and many less common products are not covered by the program at all.”
Serious damage to Florida citrus crop, says state ag commissioner
Florida, the No. 1 citrus-growing state in the nation, suffered "serious and devastating losses from Hurricane Irma," said state agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam after an aerial tour of groves in central and southwest Florida. The harvest season for oranges and grapefruit normally begins in October, so the storm arrived as the fruit was nearing maturity.