News Archive

2010

July

House Hearing (Crop Insurance); Climate Issues; Biofuels; and Trade
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — July 23, 2010
DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton reported yesterday (link requires subscription) that, “Groups representing crop insurance companies and agents told members of a House Agriculture Subcommittee that USDA didn’t negotiate in good faith in a new Standard Reinsurance Agreement and that farmers will feel the effects of $6 billion in cuts the industry must absorb over the next 10 years....

House Ag Subcommittee Meets on Crop Insurance
Hoosier Ag Today, — July 22, 2010
House Ag Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Chair Leonard Boswell says he knows how important good crop insurance is to managing risk and getting through tough times on the farm. The Iowa Congressman says that’s a lesson he learned as a farmer during the 1980s Farm Crisis. Boswell led a hearing to review current issues facing the U.S. crop insurance industry Thursday. He says it was an opportunity to get feedback about the kind of coverage farmers need, what the government can do to bolster their safety nets and the role of private crop insurance agents....

Subcommittee reviews crop insurance issues
McPherson Sentinel — July 22, 2010
Washington, D.C. — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Chairman Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, held a hearing to review current issues facing the U.S. crop insurance industry....

Agents, RMA Spar Over Cap On Crop Insurance Commissions
ARTHUR D. POSTAL, National Underwriter Property & Casualty Insurance News — July 22, 2010
Agents and underwriters sparred with Agriculture Department (USDA) representatives over agent commission caps put forth as part of the mandated cuts to the federal crop insurance program at a House subcommittee hearing....

Crop insurers claim USDA cuts will cost jobs
Philip Brasher, Des Moines Register Green Fields Blog — July 22, 2010
The companies and agents who sell federally subsidized crop insurance said the Obama administration’s cuts to the program may force firms and agents out of the business....

Crop insurance companies agree to subsidy cuts
Jerry Hagstrom, AgWeek — July 20, 2010
WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced July 13 that all 16 private crop insurance companies met a July 12 deadline to sign the five-year standard reinsurance agreement that USDA’s Risk Management Agency has been negotiating with the companies since 2009. ...

Crop insurers agree to cuts in commissions
PHILIP BRASHER & DAN PILLER, Des Moines Register: Green Fields Blog — July 18, 2010
The Obama administration's $6 billion in cuts to the crop insurance program is a done deal....

Drought magnifies farming's uncertainty Field crops have suffered amid dry conditions, persistent hot weather
Linwood Outlaw III, Northern Virginia Daily — July 17, 2010
It has been more than 30 years since Roger Hockman has seen conditions quite this bad....

Biofuels; Farm Bill; Climate Issues; Nutrition; Trade; Animal Ag; and Financial Reform
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — July 16, 2010
DTN Political Correspondent Jerry Hagstrom reported yesterday (link requires subscription) that, “House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., wants Congress to finish the farm bill by late 2011 or early 2012 to make sure the Obama administration implements the bill....

Crop insurance companies sign new deal with USDA
Bob Hoff, AgInfo.net, — July 16, 2010
Farm and Ranch July 16, 2010 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack predicted it....

Crop Insurers Reluctantly Agree to $600 Million a Year Subsidy Cut
Insurance Journal, — July 15, 2010
All 16 private insurance companies that participate in a federal crop insurance program have signed off on the new federal reinsurance agreement that cuts the subsidies they get by $600 million a year for the next 10 years....

Wild June weather keeps farmers guessing
AgWeek — July 13, 2010
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Favorable spring planting season wedged tightly between wet spells set the stage for another record corn crop. The June 30 USDA planted crop acreage report estimates U.S. corn acreage at 89.2 million acres, the highest level since 1945....

First rain in weeks brings renewed hope for farmers
Alison Morrow, WBIR-TV — July 12, 2010
The return of rain, even for a short time, may have long-reaching consequences for farmers in East Tennessee....

Grain Producers Need To Consider Crop Insurance Options For Late Planting & Replanting
William Edwards, CattleNetwork.comk — July 12, 2010
The frequent rains that have soaked Iowa this year have left many corn and soybean fields with areas where little or no production will be realized. Many producers are wondering what options they have under their multiple peril crop insurance policies....

Harkin Asks About Legality of Agent Payment Caps
Chris Clayton, DTN/The Progressive Farmer’s Ag Policy Blog — July 11, 2010
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, became the latest senator to lend his voice to the concerns of crop-insurance agents facing pay caps because of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement between USDA and insurance companies....

Green Fields: Vilsack says crop insurance firms will accept cuts
Philip Brasher & Dan Piller, Des Moines Register Green Fields Blog — July 11, 2010
Most, if not all, crop insurance companies will sign an agreement that will reduce the industry's profits, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week....

Trade; Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA); Farm Bill (Nutrition Issues); Biofuels; Climate Issues; and Food Prices
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — July 8, 2010
The July 7 edition of the “Agriculture Today” radio program, which is produced by the Red River Farm Network, contained an overview summary of the Farm Bill Forum recently hosted in Rural North Dakota by House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D....

Senators Concerned about Crop Insurance Cuts
Bruce Blythe, Pork Magazine — July 8, 2010
Senate agriculture leaders have “very significant concerns” over the government’s proposed $6 billion in cuts to the federal crop insurance program. In all, 16 Senators sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to outline those concerns....

Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA); Farm Bill; Food Safety; Trade; Animal Ag; Biofuels; EPA; and Climate Issues
Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com — July 8, 2010
Recall that Jerry Hagstrom recently reported that, “USDA Risk Management Agency Administrator Bill Murphy said June 30 that his agency has sent crop insurance companies a revised final offer of a new standard reinsurance agreement and gives the companies until July 12 to sign it. The original deadline was June 30....

Vilsack says insurance firms will accept cuts
Philip Brasher, Des Moines Register Green Fields Blog, — July 7, 2010
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he expects most if not all crop insurance companies to sign an agreement that will reduce the industry’s profits....

Senate leaders still unhappy with crop insurance changes
Jacqui Fatka, Feedstuffs, — July 7, 2010
Sixteen U.S. senators, including the Agriculture Committee’s top Democrat and Republican, sent the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) a letter on July 2 urging the administration to modify its proposed $6 billion in cuts to crop insurance....

Crop Insurers Signing on to Contract With $6 Billion in Cuts; Agents Object to Caps
Jesse A. Hamilton, Insurance News Net, — July 6, 2010
This week, U.S. crop insurers will have to sign the latest long-term contract with the federal government -- a deal that slashes billions from the long-standing public-private partnership....

Crop insurance industry – ‘hands tied’
Delta Farm Press, — July 6, 2010
The crop insurance industry and the program will withstand the $6 billion reduction in funding handed to them by the USDA’s final Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) contract released June 29. Companies have until July 12 to sign the agreement....

Crop insurance companies offered a new reinsurance agreement
Jerry Hagstrom, AgWeek, — July 6, 2010
WASHINGTON — USDA Risk Management Agency Administrator Bill Murphy said June 30 that his agency has sent crop insurance companies a revised final offer of a new standard reinsurance agreement and gives the companies until July 12 to sign it. ...

Crop Insurers Will ‘Withstand’ Severe Subsidy Cuts
Arthur Postal, National Underwriter Property & Casualty Insurance News, — July 2, 2010
WASHINGTON—Crop insurers said late Thursday the industry and the crop insurance program will be able to “withstand” the severe cuts in subsidies imposed on the program by the Agriculture Department. ...

Some fields might go unplanted
Pam Tharp, Palladium-Item, — July 2, 2010
June's extended soggy weather might mean some farm fields go unplanted this year....