Key members from the United States Senate and House today explained the popularity and importance of crop insurance during a gathering of global insurance leaders from more than 30 countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour work across the globe to help producers manage the ever risky job of feeding the world is vitally important,\u201d Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) told the group.<\/p>\n
Roberts serves as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and he called strengthening the public-private partnership of America\u2019s crop insurance system one of his top priorities. Not surprisingly, steps to improve availability and access to crop insurance were key components of the 2014 Farm Bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last Farm Bill, crop insurance was reaffirmed as the cornerstone of America\u2019s agricultural safety net,\u201d Roberts explained.<\/p>\n
His counterpart in the House of Representatives agreed, noting that crop insurance will be essential in feeding a growing world population that is expected to hit 9.6 billion by 2050.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo meet these challenges, producers must be able to remain in business over long periods of time,\u201d said Congressman Mike Conaway (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. \u201cWhen it comes to navigating swings in both the market and the weather \u2013 all of which are out of the control of producers \u2013 crop insurance steps in to fill the void.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conaway said that private-sector delivery of crop insurance, with its unique cost-sharing structure to minimize taxpayer risk exposure and its ability to be tailored to individual farmer needs, have helped make it such a success.<\/p>\n
But that success story will stall unless crop insurers continue to beat back political attacks in the annual budget and appropriations process. Luckily, they won\u2019t be alone in the fight.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), told the group, \u201cI will continue to defend farmers and ranchers and to work against those who want to dismantle this very valuable program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moran, who called crop insurance a \u201cbright spot in our federal policies,\u201d applauded insurers for supporting agriculture, strengthening the economy and securing the food and fiber supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout farmers and ranchers, rural America just doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d he concluded. \u201cWithout a viable crop insurance program, family farmers don\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conference is hosted by the International Association of Agricultural Production Insurers (AIAG) and is the first time this biennial meeting has been held in America. Roberts, Conaway, and Moran were unable to attend the event, which is being held in Kansas City, due to congressional votes in Washington, D.C., but sent personalized videos to the AIAG conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Key members from the United States Senate and House today explained the popularity and importance of crop insurance during a gathering of global insurance leaders from more than 30 countries. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines-and-media","category-press-releases"],"yoast_head":"\n