FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:February 8, 2017
\nFor more information, please contact Laurie Langstraat at 913-685-2767<\/p>\n
(BONITA SPRINGS, Fla.) \u2013 Leaders from the House Agriculture Committee expressed their continued support for crop insurance and urged agriculture to remain vigilant against farm policy critics during the upcoming Farm Bill debate.<\/p>\n
The Committee\u2019s Ranking Member, Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), spoke at the crop insurance industry\u2019s annual conference this week, calling crop insurance \u201ca safety net that really works for producers.\u201d<\/p>\n
He praised private-sector delivery as one of the main reasons for its success over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the government tried to run crop insurance, it just didn\u2019t work,\u201d he said, referring to the period before private providers were tapped in 1980 to deliver insurance protection to farmers.<\/p>\n
The public-private partnership that characterizes crop insurance today prioritizes customer service and innovates to meet the changing risks that farmers face, Peterson explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to make sure we keep it that way in the future,\u201d he noted. \u00a0Peterson wasn\u2019t alone in applauding the current structure of crop insurance.<\/p>\n
Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Tex.) told the group via video message that private industry and a \u201cmotivated agent workforce on the ground,\u201d have helped increase crop insurance participation over the years.\u00a0 This, he said, has reduced taxpayer risk exposure and virtually eliminated the need for costly\u00a0ad hoc\u00a0disaster bills in agriculture.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut simply, crop insurance is working,\u201d Conaway continued.\u00a0 \u201cFor every farmer, banker, and rural businessman I talk to, they all remind me that crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm safety net.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conaway noted that Farm Bill hearings would begin before the end of the month, and Peterson expressed his desire to deliver a bill before the end of the year.\u00a0 To do so, Peterson stressed, agriculture and its allies must work together to beat back critics of farm policy who want to leave farmers with fewer risk management tools.<\/p>\n
The Chairman agreed.\u00a0 \u201cWe can win this fight.\u00a0 We will win this fight because we are in the right,\u201d he concluded.\u00a0 \u201cWe stand for an industry that blesses this nation with every bushel or bale that\u2019s produced.\u00a0 This is an industry worth fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Leaders from the House Agriculture Committee expressed their continued support for crop insurance and urged agriculture to remain vigilant against farm policy critics during the upcoming Farm Bill debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":8136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"yoast_head":"\n