Washington, D.C. (July 25, 2017) – Today, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a hearing titled “Commodities, Credit, and Crop Insurance: Perspectives on Risk Management Tools and Trends for the 2018 Farm Bill.” NAWG President and Kansas farmer David Schemm testified to the Committee on the need for growers to have access to a strong safety net and risk management system.
“Between record low commodity prices, unfair trade practices in the global market, disease issues, and extreme weather, wheat farmers across the nation are experiencing the toughest economic conditions they have faced since the 1980s,” stated David Schemm, NAWG President and Sharon Springs, KS farmer. “Fortunately, programs authorized in the 2014 the Farm Bill, specifically crop insurance, have enabled farmers to be able to farm another year when prices collapse or disaster strikes.”
“The federal crop insurance program, which requires a farmer to pay a premium, is structured in a way that the producer has to suffer an indemnifiable loss before they get any sort of payment,” continued Schemm. “A farmer could go years paying premiums for a policy and rarely get an indemnity; and, in truth, a farmer would much rather get a return on their commodity than become eligible for an indemnity.”
In addition to crop insurance, Title 1 programs like Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) have also served as key safety net programs that are limited and kick in for losses not covered by crop insurance. As such, NAWG urges Congress to continue to allow a producer choice between revenue protection and price protection. With growing and marketing conditions that can vary across the country, maintaining a choice in programs is critical. Additionally, NAWG supports adjustments to ARC to enable it to continue to function as a safety net moving forward as well as an increase in the PLC wheat reference price to better reflect modern production expenses.
“As our discussions continue with what the next Farm Bill will look like, NAWG is looking forward to working with both the Senate and House Agriculture Committees to ensure a full reauthorization bill can be completed prior to the expiration of the current Farm Bill on September 30, 2018,” stated Schemm.
Additional panelists included growers, agriculture industry representatives, and crop insurance company representation. Visit the Committee site for a complete list of the panels.