But there are those who are making uninformed and uneducated criticisms about crop insurance – and America’s farmers – in the midst of this national tragedy. According to the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, farmers have been ‘praying for drought, not rain.’ Really?  I’ve seen a lot of looks on the faces of my fellow farmers this past summer, as their crops and have withered despite their best efforts and their hopes for a great harvest have been dashed.”

The crop insurance program is a dramatic risk mitigator for the farmer.

Crop insurance has become the chief risk management tool for farmers for one simple reason: It works. Farmers purchase policies and can receive claims only for documented losses. As you noted, most of the United States is locked in a severe drought this year. Crop losses may be deep, and no crop insurance indemnity will be enough to make any of these farmers whole again. The indemnity will allow those who purchased policies to get back on their feet and farm yet another day.

Farmers all across the country have said they like crop insurance. They understand it, they pay premiums — probably not thrilled about that piece of it — but having said that, they’re willing to do it. They understand the protection comes at a price so they have to pay for it. I just think it’s going stay. I really believe that crop insurance and risk management is what this Farm Bill is all about.

Sorghum producers across the Sorghum Belt faced significant challenges last growing season as a result of the drought. NSP supports Federal Crop Insurance, which is providing meaningful risk management tools to our producers.

What we would like to see is continued support of our crop insurance.  The reason crop insurance is there is to prevent you from setting up an appointment with the auctioneer.

As Congress continues work on the next farm bill, our organizations agree that an affordable crop insurance program is our No. 1 priority.

Crop insurance companies already have paid $9.1 Billion in indemnity payments to US farmers for 2011. That a new record, and actually the largest lost claims in the history of the program according to USDA’s Risk Management Agency, and only 81% of claims have been finalized.

Former USDA chief economist Keith Collins says during the past 4 years more than $27 billion in private backed crop insurance has been paid to farmers affected by market drops or natural disasters.

So as we look at the next Farm Bill, we need effective risk management tools for farmers that are simple and easy to use. In my visits around Michigan, and in our field hearing here and at the one we did in Kansas, we heard over and over again that crop insurance is the foundation of the farm safety net.

The speed of delivery of crop insurance — because it’s administered by private-sector companies — makes it a different kind of animal. In fact, if a natural disaster strikes and I’m covered by a crop insurance policy, typically the payment comes to me in one or two weeks, not in one or two years. Because of that speed of delivery, I can quickly recover from the loss and replant the field, garnering myself some needed income for the year and putting some food on the tables for consumers.

Farmers like me need to have access to affordable risk management tools to better mitigate the impact of significant crop losses and sharp price declines. This is why the upcoming farm bill is so important. It is not about providing income to the less than 2% of the American population. It is about insuring that the same 2% can continue to provide affordable food for the other 98% of Americans who rely on them.

We have heard again and again from producers that crop insurance is the best risk management tool available. In jeopardizing this program, the President turns a deaf ear to America’s farmers.

Now I understand that when Congress starts trimming the budget, everyone is going to argue that their specific program deserves protection. While I can’t speak for other aspects of federal spending, I can attest to the fact that crop insurance and other aspects of farm policy work for me. Without a doubt, they are the policies that keep family farms like mine in business and our nation food secure.

Most farmers now see [crop insurance] as a primary tool for risk management. An important tool for risk management.

It’s just a real good risk management tool. We’re able to have famers pay part of the premium and have government pay part of the premium to make it affordable and it just ensures that if we have tough weather – especially like we’re having now – lots of wildfires in Texas and a lot of flooding in the Midwest, that farmers are able to indeed get enough assistance that they can farm for another year.

Failure to anticipate an imminent downturn in the agricultural economy by not maintaining farm policies through the farm bill and crop insurance… would, in time, prove penny wise and pound foolish.