News Archive

2010

March

USDA urged to reconsider crop insurance changes
Senate Agriculture Committee, Western Farm Press — March 31, 2010
U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., along with 28 U.S. senators, have expressed appreciation for the Risk Management Agency's (RMA) willingness to reconsider its previous proposals as the Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) renegotiation proceeds...

RMA Considers Standard Reinsurance Agreement Cuts
Several Senators are concerned about impact of program cuts.
Farm Futures — March 30, 2010
USDA's Risk Management Agency has reconsidered its previous proposals as the Standard Reinsurance Agreement renegotiation proceeds. But at least 30 U.S. Senators have voiced concern to the agency. In a letter they wrote that despite a modest reduction in the size of the proposed cuts between the first and second drafts, they believe RMA's proposals may undermine the crop insurance program, reduce the quality of service and availability of the program, and harm rural America through job loss...

Senators defend crop agents against cuts
Philip Brasher, Des Moines Register Blog — March 29, 2010
Thirty senators wrote the Agriculture Department today to complain about its latest proposal to cut spending for crop insurance. The cuts include a cap on the commissions that agents can earn, a move that would fall especially hard on agents in Iowa, where the commissions are the highest...

For the 2012 Farm Bill, crop insurance moves to center stage
Sara Wyant, High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal — March 26, 2010
For the last several years, U.S. wheat growers have been some of the staunchest supporters of direct payments, which are issued by USDA every year to producers with qualified base acres, regardless of what they planted or if they planted. Given the uncertainty of prices and production, it was one part of the federal farm program "safety net" that producers, and perhaps more importantly, their lenders, could count on year in and year out...

USDA Announces Availability of Funds for Risk Management Partnership and Cooperative Agreements
Shirley Pugh, USDA.gov — March 23, 2010
WASHINGTON, March 23, 2010 -- USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) today announced the availability of nearly $8.6 million for partnership agreement grants. These agreements are designed to provide new ways for producers to manage risks to their businesses and for education opportunities for limited-resource and underserved farmers and ranchers. All awards will be made on a competitive basis for projects of up to one year. Recipients must demonstrate non-financial benefits from a partnership agreement and must agree to substantial RMA involvement in the project...

NFU Delegates Set Federal Farm Program Priorities
Pork Magazine — March 16, 2010
National Farmers Union delegates have adopted a special order of business calling on Washington policy makers to consider the unique challenges facing rural America when debating policy solutions regarding the nation's federal farm programs...

Budget; Climate Issues; Ag Economy; Trade; Biofuels; and Crop Insurance
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — March 17, 2010
Chris Clayton reported yesterday at the DTN Ag Policy Blog that, "Michael Scuse, deputy undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service, spoke Monday to the National Farmers Union convention in Rapid City, S.D., explaining that USDA is expected to release its third contract offer to the crop-insurance industry on the Standard Reinsurance Agreement within the next couple of weeks. Insurers rejected the first two proposals that would have cut $8.4 billion in the first proposal or $6.9 billion in the second proposal, over 10 years. Scuse said he expects a contract to be signed by June so it would be in effect in 2011...

USDA-DOJ Ag Competition Workshop; Climate Change; Trade; Budget-Crop Insurance; and Animal Agriculture
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — March 15, 2010
Friday's Kiplinger Agriculture Letter noted in part that, "Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) is bent on moving the '12 farm bill swiftly. The House Ag Com. chairman drove the '08 farm bill at a similar fast pace. He'll begin hearings in April, hold regional ones this summer and draft a bill this fall...

Check crop insurance before abandoning wheat
Wendell Cooper, Southeast Farm Press — March 12, 2010
When abandoning a wheat field, or any crop, one of the biggest concerns is crop insurance. Growers need to understand how abandoning a wheat field affects insurance coverage during the current year and coverage levels during the years that follow...

Saying 'no' isn't enough
Capital Press — March 11, 2010
Editorial. There are times when just saying "no" isn't enough. We hope that's where the House Agriculture Committee is coming from...

Crop Insurance deadline coming up
What's the best option for your farm?
Jeff Caldwell, Agriculture Online — March 10, 2010
The deadline for finalizing your crop insurance program for this year's crops is coming up March 15. This year's decision won't likely be an easy one for many farmers...

Crop insurance coverage pays for Texas farmers
Ron Smith, Southwest Farm Press — March 10, 2010
Hill County, Texas, farmer Albert Sulak admits that about 10 years ago he was a bit skeptical about the value of crop insurance...

Budget Concerns May Re-Open Farm Bill
Greg Vincent, AgWeb — March 9, 2010
Karl Scronce, the president of the National Association of Wheat Growers and a wheat farmer from Klamath Falls, Ore., says his associations key priorities for the year are focused on Washington, D.C...

Sec. Vilsack- Trade; Climate Issues; and Crop Insurance
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — March 8, 2010
In a recent column, "Inside Washington Today" author Jim Wiesemeyer included an "Open Letter to USDA and Members of Congress." Mr. Wiesemeyer explained that, "This dispatch is an open letter from several crop insurance industry groups to USDA and Members of Congress regarding USDA's proposed Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) and other crop insurance issues. I'm giving these respected organizations space to get their viewpoints and perspective as wide as coverage as possible for several reasons — the most important being this topic is frequently raised during my many speeches throughout this country. I'm willing to run constructively written and signed responses to the following."...

RMA offers new barley insurance
Matthew Weaver, Capital Press — March 4, 2010
Beginning with the 2010 crop year, the USDA Risk Management Agency will offer insurance coverage based on the contract price for certain types of specialty barley...

USDA announces risk protection for specialty types of barley
Ag Weekly — March 2, 2010
Effective for the 2010 Crop Year, the Risk Management Agency (RMA) is offering insurance coverage based on contract prices for all practices of certain specialty types of barley (as reflected in the Special Provisions of Insurance)...

Insurance Agents Angry Over U.S. Crop Program Changes
Arthur Postal, National Underwriter Property & Casualty Insurance News — March 1, 2010
WASHINGTON—Crop insurance carriers and independent agents say the U.S. Agriculture Department's latest proposed cuts in subsidies in the program as well as a "soft cap" on agents' commissions are both unwarranted and hurtful...

Vilsack Testifies to House Subcommittee on FY2011 Budget
US AgNet — March 1, 2010
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack testified before the House Appropriations Committee's agriculture subcommittee last week, answering questions on a range of issues, from farm policy to animal identification. He told members that USDA's proposed budget would effectively freeze discretionary programs, though mandatory expenditures for crop insurance and nutrition assistance would increase...

Soggy Soils Complicate Acreage Choices
Linda H. Smith, AgWeb.com — March 1, 2010
Soil moisture is always a factor in what is planted, says John Robinson, Extension economist at Texas A&M University. "When it is dry, cotton may be the crop of choice because it is more drought tolerant — and crop insurance favors it." This year, its effects are different...