Testimony Calls Attention to Crop Insurance Program

A House Agriculture subcommittee heard yesterday that the federal crop insurance program generally works well for most producers and is a popular risk management tool, but there is room for improvement. The areas of concern include: areas of duplicate procedures, and efficiency and integration with other federal agricultural programs. That was the message the President of the American Farm Bureau Federation took to Capitol Hill.

AFBF President Bob Stallman urged Congress to push the Agriculture Department to complete work on the Comprehensive Information Management System project. Stallman said, - once complete, that system would lead to more procedural efficiency for farmers and greater coordination among federal agriculture and crop insurance programs.

Stallman said the safety net works fairly well if a producer suffers a catastrophic crop loss because the producer doesn’t have to pay expenses, and crop insurance covers the majority of the loss. However, he said improvements are needed in what are called “shallow loss” crop insurance provisions. He called for increased support so that producers who experience shallow losses on a fairly regular basis can still afford the premiums.