Yesterday, the House Agriculture Committee invited various commodity groups to testify before the committee on Title I programs in the Farm Bill. This hearing kicked off the committee\u2019s examination of the Farm Bill programs that help provide stability to America\u2019s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities as they do the hard work of feeding, fueling, and clothing our nation.<\/p>\n
While crop insurance was not the focus of this hearing, it was no surprise that the importance of the crop insurance program was reiterated time and time again. That\u2019s because crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm safety net and trusted by farmers to protect more than 90 percent of insurable farmland in America.<\/p>\n
Commodity leaders from across the country, representing tens of thousands of farmers growing a diverse range of crops, praised the crop insurance program, speaking at times about their personal farming experience. In their own words, here\u2019s what they had to say about crop insurance:<\/p>\n
\u201cASA must share for the record the high importance of crop insurance to soybean farmers. Soybean farmers consistently communicate that this is the most effective component of the farm safety net when viewed more broadly\u2026 Crop insurance must remain affordable for producers.\u201d \u2013 Brad Doyle, American Soybean Association<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLast year, I didn\u2019t harvest a third of my farm. And so, I had to utilize the safety net of crop insurance, and it was there, and I\u2019d have to say, it\u2019s kept the family farm in business.\u201d \u2013 Nicole Berg, National Association of Wheat Growers<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe know that agricultural markets are cyclical, and an effective safety net is imperative for the inevitable times of low prices. The combination of commodity program options and crop insurance gives farmers as well as their lenders the confidence entering planting season knowing that downside risk is mitigated in periods of steep price decline or a significant loss of production.\u201d \u2013 Jaclyn Ford,\u00a0National Cotton Council<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCrop insurance is #1. It is our #1 best risk-management tool, and we need to continue with that. It is a vital piece.\u201d \u2013 Chris Edgington, National Corn Growers Association<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAs we are seeing continuous erratic weather patterns \u2013 longer and more extreme droughts in some regions and more frequent flooding in other areas \u2013 the farm safety net and robust crop insurance program that helps farmers adequately mitigate risk and volatility becomes vital to the sustainability and continuation of family farms.\u201d \u2013 Verity Ulibarri,\u00a0National Sorghum Producers<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI hope that the stability and certainty of the farm safety net that the Title I and crop insurance programs represent will remain the top priority and driving force in the timely reauthorization of a bipartisan Farm Bill in 2023. Farmers, as well as consumers that rely on the food we produce, are facing a lot of challenges and uncertainty. Additional instability and uncertainty in the fam safety net and our food production system is the last thing we need.\u201d \u2013 \u00a0Clark Coleman,\u00a0National Sunflower Association, National Barley Growers Association, U.S. Canola Association, and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council<\/em><\/p>\n The message to Congress was loud and clear: to best serve America\u2019s farmer and ranchers, crop insurance must be protected and strengthened in the next Farm Bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, the House Agriculture Committee invited various commodity groups to testify before the committee on Title I programs in the Farm Bill. This hearing kicked off the committee\u2019s examination of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":13137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,31,32,33,37,38,110,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-farm-bill","category-farm-policy","category-farmers","category-risk-management","category-safety-net","category-sample-post-slider-category","category-whats-cropping-up"],"yoast_head":"\n