The National Climatic Data\u00a0Center reported that as the 2012\u00a0drought deepened and expanded\u00a0this summer, it became one of\u00a0the six largest droughts in\u00a0modern record keeping. Here in\u00a0Ohio, you really didn\u2019t need a\u00a0weather expert to tell you just\u00a0how bad it was. And before the\u00a0rains finally came \u2013 which were\u00a0too late for many of crop \u2013 the\u00a0fields were so dry they had\u00a0cracked, there was only stubble\u00a0left for cattle to feed on, and\u00a0creeks and wells were drying up.\u00a0This has been one of those years\u00a0that can be full of\u00a0disappointment for a farmer like\u00a0me.<\/p>\n
Planting this spring the soil\u00a0looked great, crop prices were\u00a0high, and there was every\u00a0indication that a bountiful\u00a0harvest was a strong possibility.\u00a0But the rains left and did not\u00a0return for months, leaving 53\u00a0percent of the corn crop in poor\u00a0or very poor condition, roughly\u00a0one-third of the soybean crop in\u00a0poor or very poor condition and\u00a0almost 70 percent of our\u00a0pastures the same.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, I purchase crop\u00a0insurance for situations just like\u00a0this. Crop insurance is a public-private\u00a0partnership that limits\u00a0taxpayer exposure to risk \u2013 and\u00a0saving them billions of dollars \u2013\u00a0and helps farmers get back on\u00a0our feet when disaster strikes. A\u00a0crop insurance check does not\u00a0make a farmer \u201cwhole\u201d anymore\u00a0than an insurance check replaces\u00a0the home you lost in a fire, but it\u00a0at least puts us on first base.<\/p>\n
Crop insurance has become the\u00a0key risk management tool for\u00a0farmers, and the only risk\u00a0management for some, that last\u00a0year protected 84 percent of\u00a0eligible farmland, or roughly 266\u00a0million acres.\u00a0In years past, natural disasters\u00a0like the drought we are enduring\u00a0right now, regularly triggered\u00a0very costly, un-budgeted ad hoc\u00a0disaster bill from Congress,\u00a0costing taxpayers $45 billion\u00a0from FY1989 to FY2001. By\u00a0comparison, the fact that most\u00a0farmers purchase crop insurance\u00a0has negated the need for large\u00a0disaster bills for crops. Because\u00a0of the way crop insurance works,\u00a0when disaster does strike, the\u00a0cost is partially shouldered by\u00a0private sector insurance\u00a0companies.\u00a0This is a good, fiscally\u00a0responsible move for farm policy.\u00a0That\u2019s because the move from ad\u00a0hoc disaster bills to private crop\u00a0insurance policies has saved\u00a0billions of taxpayer dollars. In\u00a0fact, taxpayer spending for farm\u00a0safety net programs as a whole\u00a0has dropped from $19.2 billion\u00a0in 2002 to an estimated $12.3\u00a0billion in 2011, a 36 percent\u00a0decline.<\/p>\n
Many Ohio farmers who are\u00a0collecting crop insurance checks\u00a0this year have never filed a claim.\u00a0Those profits, in addition to the\u00a0$3.5 billion the federal\u00a0government has made in\u00a0underwriting gains, will help pay\u00a0for these and similar big losses.\u00a0Last year, there was a string of\u00a0natural disasters, including\u00a0drought, wildfires, floods,\u00a0freezes, hurricanes and tropical\u00a0storms, which allowed crop\u00a0insurance to show its steel.<\/p>\n
Despite farm disasters from\u00a0coast to coast, there wasn\u2019t a\u00a0single call for a disaster bill from\u00a0Washington. Why? Because\u00a0farmers had spent $4.5 billion of\u00a0their own money to purchase\u00a0crop insurance.\u00a0Insurance dollars are already\u00a0flowing into the state to help\u00a0farmers meet their cash flow\u00a0demands. In fact, more than\u00a0$16 million in indemnities have\u00a0already landed in the hands of\u00a0Ohio farmers, which will help\u00a0them make it through an\u00a0otherwise lean year. It took\u00a0months, or years, for cash from\u00a0government programs of the past\u00a0to find their way to farmers.<\/p>\n
But there are those who are\u00a0making uninformed and\u00a0uneducated criticisms about crop\u00a0insurance \u2013 and America\u2019s\u00a0farmers \u2013 in the midst of this\u00a0national tragedy. According to\u00a0the Washington-based\u00a0Environmental Working Group,\u00a0farmers have been \u201cpraying for\u00a0drought, not rain.\u201d\u00a0Really? I\u2019ve seen a lot of looks on\u00a0the faces of my fellow farmers\u00a0this past summer, as their crops\u00a0and have withered despite their\u00a0best efforts and their hopes for a\u00a0great harvest have been dashed.\u00a0And for the record, none of those\u00a0looks have been smiles of greed\u00a0about a check for an insurance\u00a0policy they bought. Nor have I\u00a0heard much laughter. Tears of\u00a0frustration, maybe. Laughter, not\u00a0so much.<\/p>\n
The rains have returned to the\u00a0Buckeye state but for the most\u00a0part, it\u2019s too little, too late for the\u00a0corn crop. Thankfully most of us\u00a0have purchased crop insurance\u00a0policies, and will bounce back\u00a0and be planting again next year.<\/p>\n
This op-ed, written by Custar, Ohio farmer, Mark Drewes, appeared in the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune on September 18, 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The National Climatic Data\u00a0Center reported that as the 2012\u00a0drought deepened and expanded\u00a0this summer, it became one of\u00a0the six largest droughts in\u00a0modern record keeping. Here in\u00a0Ohio, you really didn\u2019t need a\u00a0weather […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":3456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,40,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-weather","category-whats-cropping-up"],"yoast_head":"\n