Agricultural News
Farm Groups to Chairman Lucas- Stay Strong on Crop Insurance
Tue, 15 May 2012 05:25:55 CDT
As the House Agriculture Committee continues farm bill hearings this week, a dozen farm groups sent a letter on Monday to House Ag Chairman Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson on the importance of crop insurance.
"Federal crop insurance provides an effective risk management tool to farmers and ranchers when they are facing losses beyond their control," the letter stated. "It reduces taxpayer risk exposure; it makes hedging possible to help mitigate market volatility; and it provides lenders with greater certainty that loans made to producers will be repaid."
One of the groups that signed off on the letter, the National Corn Growers Association, has previously stated that crop insurance remains the number one priority in the new farm bill as well as a market oriented, risk management tool to cover multi-year price declines. Chip Bowling, a member of the Corn Board and liaison to the Public Policy Action Team, during a hearing on Wednesday before the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.
The following is the full text of the letter- and the list of groups that signed:
The Honorable Frank Lucas The Honorable Collin Peterson
House Agriculture Committee House Agriculture Committee
House of Representatives House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Peterson:
As Congress writes the next farm bill, our organizations agree that maintaining a strong, efficient, effective, and affordable crop insurance system is a top priority.
Federal crop insurance provides an effective risk management tool to farmers and ranchers when they are facing losses beyond their control; it reduces taxpayer risk exposure; it makes hedging possible to help mitigate market volatility; and it provides lenders with greater certainty that loans made to producers will be repaid.
The renegotiation of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement resulted in a $6 billion reduction to the program, with $4 billion in savings applied to deficit reduction. We believe additional reductions would seriously affect producer access to crop insurance coverage and threaten efficient private-sector delivery following disasters.
We ask for your support in keeping crop insurance strong in the next farm bill.
Sincerely,
American Farm Bureau Federation
American Soybean Association
American Sugarbeet Growers Association
National Association of Wheat Growers
National Barley Growers Association
National Corn Growers Association
National Cotton Council
National Farmers Union
National Sorghum Producers
National Sunflower Association
U.S. Canola Association
USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council
Cc: Members of the House Agriculture Committee
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