The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed to affordable and flexible crop insurance for the nation\u2019s farmers, ranchers, and producers, according to Secretary Tom Vilsack.<\/p>\n
He made his pre-recorded remarks on the second day of the crop insurance industry\u2019s annual convention in California.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour work is critical to helping America\u2019s farmers, ranchers, and producers manage the risky, but necessary, business of producing our food, fuel, and fiber that so many take for granted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Vilsack said he\u2019s seen historic droughts, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and many other disasters in his time as USDA secretary. He said the farmers, ranchers, and producers who had crop insurance told him it gave them the confidence to rebuild and make it to the next growing season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey knew that one bad year, one lost crop, wouldn\u2019t mean losing the family farm or ranch that had been in the family for generations because they had that insurance product, that didn\u2019t necessarily make them whole, but did keep them in the game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Before, during, and after disasters, agents, and adjusters help deliver for agriculture. America\u2019s farm policy is the envy of the world, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the public-private partnership of Federal crop insurance is one of its key components,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
More and more farmers are choosing to invest in crop insurance, in part, because payments are fast but also because the program continues to innovate. He noted the growth in coverage options for different crops and production systems.<\/p>\n
He said USDA is working to help producers effectively manage risk through crop insurance with programs including row crop, whole farm revenue protection, rainfall index programs for forage and dairy safety net services to protect against market fluctuations.<\/p>\n
USDA is innovating with new insurance options for small producers who sell locally through the micro farm policy that simplifies record keeping and covers post-production costs. It is also working to make cover crops more affordable.<\/p>\n
Data from crop insurance is helping to streamline the process and reduce the burden on producers.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou all have basically helped provide opportunities and hope to our farm families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The agency sees its partnership with crop insurance as the path forward to securing the nation\u2019s food supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt USDA, we are laser focused on making sure that every farmer, rancher, and producer of food, fuel and fiber can access the needed crop insurance tools to manage their operating risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed to affordable and flexible crop insurance for the nation\u2019s farmers, ranchers, and producers, according to Secretary Tom Vilsack. He made his pre-recorded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":13087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,32,1,110,39,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essential-strengths","category-farm-policy","category-news","category-sample-post-slider-category","category-usda","category-whats-cropping-up"],"yoast_head":"\n