News Archive

2010

January

Crop insurers resist USDA's proposed cuts
Wes Sander, Capital Press Agriculture — January 31, 2010
Crop insurers say USDA's proposed funding cuts to its crop-insurance program will cause their industry to downsize and shed jobs...

Climate Legislation; Trade; CFTC Issues; and Crop Insurance
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — January 28, 2010
A news release issued yesterday by the National Farmers Union indicated that, "Today National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson submitted a letter to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack expressing concern regarding potential cuts to the Federal Crop Insurance Program in the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget...

Crop insurance cuts questioned
Delta Farm Press — January 28, 2010
A proposed $4 billion cut over five years to the USDA crop-insurance program's contracting agreement with private insurance companies has prompted 10 commodity organizations to express their concerns in writing to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack...

The Farm Bill, A Spending "Freeze," and the Federal Debt; Jobs Agenda and Climate Change; and Crop Insurance
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — January 27, 2010
A news release issued on Monday by the National Farmers Union stated that, "Today, the National Farmers Union (NFU), in alliance with nine other national agricultural organizations, sent a letter to United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the draft Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA)...

Congressional Documents and Publications
InsuranceNewsNet.com — January 25, 2010
Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado and member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to proceed with caution on changes to the federal crop insurance program given their potential impact on the lives of Colorado's farmers and ranchers...

Private Crop Insurers Oppose Funding Cuts
Insurance Journal — January 22, 2010
The private crop insurance industry is blasting a proposed restructuring in the crop insurance program they say would cut $4 billion -- or $800 million a year -- over the next five years...

Insurers Slam Crop Insurance Program Cuts
Arthur Postal, National Underwriter Property And Casualty Insurance News — January 21, 2010
WASHINGTON—Proposed cuts for the U.S. Agriculture Department's subsidy to the crop insurance program are excessive and will likely lead to more consolidation in a shrinking private crop insurance industry, an insurers' representative told the agency...

RMA Urged Not to Cut Crop Insurance
Michigan Farmer — January 21, 2010
Twenty-six U.S. Senators have signed a letter urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency to refrain from making deep cuts to the federal crop insurance program. In a letter to RMA Administrator William Murphy, the Senators said a competitive, thriving crop insurance industry is vital to the agricultural economy...

Biotech program netted farmers $50 million in savings in 2009
Agriculture Online — January 20, 2010
Reductions in U.S. crop insurance premiums have resulted in significant farmer and taxpayer savings in 2009, according to data from the pilot Risk Management Agency Biotechology Endorsement program...

Climate Change; Disaster Aid; Trade; Crop Insurance; Justice Dept. — Monsanto; and CFTC Developments
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — January 17, 2010
Philip Brasher reported yesterday at the Green Fields Blog (The Des Moines Register) that, "Crop insurers are going to battle with the Obama administration over its plans to slash the industry's growing profits...

Old Man Winter puts squeeze on Florida orange growers
Jeff Casale, Business Insurance — January 17, 2010
MIAMI—Florida growers have yet to determine how much damage their crops suffered from the cold snap that gripped most of the country the first week of January, but insurance experts say much of the expected losses will be covered...

Concern mounting about crop damage
Holmes County Times Advertiser — January 16, 2010
Florida's agriculture industry continues to evaluate the impact of a two-week freeze on fruit and vegetables. Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson estimates about one-third of the crop worth hundreds of millions of dollars has been lost...

Local farmers look ahead to 2010
Ed Gebert, Times Bulletin — January 16, 2010
Farming has always been a risky business. Years of dodging drought and flooding, guessing at future commodity prices and government regulations make many growers into experienced gamblers...

Freeze Grips US South, Causes Millions in Insured Losses
Insurance Net News — January 14, 2010
From Texas to Florida, recent freezing temperatures left damages in a part of the country unaccustomed to cold weather...

Plan Ahead For Crop Insurance In 2010
Wallace's Farmer — January 14, 2010
FAQ: When is the deadline to sign up for crop insurance? Do I really need to buy crop insurance before I sign up for USDA's SURE program in 2010?...

Climate Change Issues; Animal Agriculture; Crop Insurance; Energy Prices; and Crop Reports
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — January 13, 2010
DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton reported yesterday (link requires subscription) that, "A farm-state senator expressed concern Tuesday that proposed cuts in crop insurance could hurt farmers' ability to manage their own risk, and might also appear to pit farmers against school children in the fight for federal dollars...

Freeze Threatens Florida's Tropical Fish
Damien Cave, The New York Times — January 11, 2010
LAKELAND, Fla. — Frosted oranges, strawberries encased in ice: the images of Florida's freezes are familiar, sad and earthy. But just past the crop rows here in the state's agricultural core, there swims another sizable industry that has suffered more than any other because of this year's unusually long cold snap — tropical fish...

Million-Dollar Risk Rides on Couple of Cold Nights in Florida's Berry Fields
Jessica Vander Velde, TampaBay.com — January 10, 2010
PLANT CITY — Carl Grooms' strawberry crop made it through the longest cold snap of his 36-year career, but Saturday left him wondering if all his sleepless nights were in vain...

RMFU cheers completion of disaster relief coverage
AgJournal.com — January 7, 2009
La Junta, Colo. — In a statement this week, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union President Kent Peppler praised the U.S.Department of Agriculture's announcement of disaster relief coverage for farmers...

Right Hand and Left Hand
DeVonna Zeug, FarmPolicyFacts.org — January 2010
It's an odd thing—on one hand Uncle Sam is looking for ways to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to spur jobs creation and economic recovery while on the other hand Washington is proposing a plan that I fear will destabilize crop insurance that we farmers need, lenders require, and billions of dollars in economic activity and thousands of American jobs depend upon...