Crop insurance expansion approved by Senate panel

Crop Insurance cuts

The farm bill that would broaden the coverage has now received the approval from a U.S. panel. The Senate Agriculture Committee has just approved its version of the farm bill – the House is debating another – which would expand the reach of the federally subsidized crop insurance program and that will cost approximately $500 billion over a period of ten years. The bill will also make some limited cuts on the spending for the food stamps that are issued to the poor. The Senate bill is one thousand pages…

Read More

Crop insurance gets bigger as the latest farm bill’s costs rise

crop insurance program

The federally subsidized program will now offer a minimum of three new forms of protection. The most costly part of the safety net for American farmers, the federally subsidized crop insurance program, will now have at least three new forms of coverage available to growers across the country. The farm bill draft is currently pending in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It has been suggested that the new form of crop insurance could generate a cost that is 10 percent higher than the expense it currently generates.…

Read More

Crop insurance teetering on the “fiscal cliff”

crop insurance program

The farm bill has been pushed to help to save the protection subsidies from the axe. Lawmakers from rural areas who are concerned that the $9 billion in annual federal subsidies for crop insurance may be considered to be an easy target for cutting spending in order to avoid the looming fiscal cliff. They are now seeking a new way to compromise on the farm bill in order to continue protecting farmers. The House and Senate Agriculture Committee chairpersons had already been prepared to use a new farm bill in…

Read More

Crop insurance placed back in the spotlight following election

Crop Insurance

Attention for farm bill has become an important target for lawmakers. Now that the election is behind us, crop insurance federal subsidies will return to the spotlight as a major target for lawmakers who are seeking to slash the budget deficit in Congress’s first week of the lame duck session. Experts in agricultural policy feel that this is a typical week following a general election. Many doubt, however, that lawmakers will be able to make their way through the deadlock they have been facing regarding the enacting of a $500…

Read More

Crop insurance could cost American taxpayers record amounts

private Crop Insurance

Droughts and floods could require $15 billion in U.S. taxes to subsidize this year’s program. Taxpayers in the United States may be facing a record breaking $15 billion in order to be able to continue subsidizing the privately operated crop insurance program, following the devastation from massive droughts throughout the Farm Belt, and flooding in other agricultural regions. Congress is currently seeking a way to help to control the skyrocketing costs. It has been a topic of a great deal of debate and discussion as Congress tries to reduce the…

Read More

Insurance news for dairy farmers will lead to higher monthly expenses

Insurance news concerning dairy farmers

The expired 2008 Farm Bill could mean payments of up to 10 percent of their monthly milk income. Beginning this month, dairy farmers made insurance news as they could lose up to 10 percent of their monthly income from milk because Congress allowed the 2008 Farm Bill to expire. The element affecting the farmers is the Milk Income Loss Contract program. This program functioned as a safety net for farmers when the national price of milk fell, offering them payments during those times. However, it expired along with the Farm…

Read More

Crop insurance may look notably different following next farm bill

Crop Insurance

Risk management may play an important role in its shape and angle. As the cost of crop insurance continues to skyrocket and takes steps away from paying growers directly and toward measures for risk management, Ohio State University agricultural economists are now predicting that the new focus will play an important role in the shape of the next Farm Bill. The agricultural economists shared their opinions at the 50th Farm Science Review in Ohio. Among those included on the panel at the review featured Carl Zulauf, who is an expert…

Read More