Crop insurance has earned the trust of America\u2019s farmers, and on Thursday, it earned the praise of the Senate Agriculture Committee. A bipartisan group of senators commended the program during a Farm Bill hearing, citing its importance in the face of rising challenges on America\u2019s farms.<\/p>\n
The Honorable Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, and Administrator Marcia Bunger, Risk Management Agency (RMA), testified on crop insurance on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They echoed the need for a strong farm safety net.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrop insurance remains a critical \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>a vital<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 risk management tool for our producers. RMA is expanding coverage to more crops and producers than ever before,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Bonnie said.<\/p>\n Several senators noted the need to strengthen and expand crop insurance to better serve more farmers, such as specialty crop producers. The crop insurance industry is committed to working with Congress to ensure that all farmers have the tools they need to manage the highly specialized risks of farming and protect the security of the U.S. food supply.<\/p>\n \u201c[Crop insurance is] such an important corner of our safety net.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo doubt, without crop insurance, without Title I funding, many farmers would be out of business.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDespite the USDA\u2019s farm safety net, producers are still struggling to break even due to skyrocketing inflation, rising input costs for food, fuel, and fertilizer. As Farm Bill discussions take place, we want to ensure a strong crop insurance program that maintains the public-private partnership made up to help our producers manage risk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cA vital purpose of the Farm Bill is to provide a safety net to producers to ensure that they\u2019re able to protect their farms and livelihood. Tools like crop insurance are vital in that mission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sen. Ben Lujan (D-NM)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt should be a top priority of this Congress to protect crop insurance. Crop insurance is the quickest and most efficient way to provide aid to our farmers and ranchers after disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCrop insurance and commodity programs must be maintained and where possible, improved, in the next Farm Bill to help producers face challenges from high inflation and input costs to adverse weather events.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sen. John Thune (R-SD)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCrop insurance is the most effective and best risk management tool… It\u2019s critical that we maintain that safety net that is affordable, as well. It is especially important as we consider the young, and beginning, and small farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Crop insurance has earned the trust of America\u2019s farmers, and on Thursday, it earned the praise of the Senate Agriculture Committee. A bipartisan group of senators commended the program during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":13590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,31,32,37,38,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-farm-bill","category-farm-policy","category-risk-management","category-safety-net","category-whats-cropping-up"],"yoast_head":"\nHere\u2019s what the Senate Agriculture Committee is saying about crop insurance:<\/h3>\n