This morning in a colloquy on the Senate floor, Senate leadership committed to working with House leadership to reverse crop insurance cuts that are included as part of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement currently before the Senate as part of an omnibus appropriations bill, due in December.

Following is a statement from NAWG President, Brett Blankenship, wheat grower from Washtucna, Wash.

“After days of expressing concern over cuts to crop insurance to members of Congress, we are pleased that House and Senate leadership have committed to reversing the cuts currently proposed in the budget agreement. Crop insurance is an essential part of the farm safety net, and it needs to stay as such. It is encouraging to see leadership listening to grower concerns and keeping crop insurance in tact as a risk management tool for growers. I also want to thank Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Peterson, Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow for their tireless efforts to defend crop insurance.”

Earlier this week, the Administration and Congressional leadership announced a bipartisan budget deal that would both raise discretionary spending caps by $80 billion for FY 2016 and FY 2017 and it would increase the debt limit until March 15, 2017. As one of the offsets for the increase in discretionary spending, the deal also included a $3 billion cut, over ten years, to crop insurance. Following significant pushback from the agricultural community and many Members of Congress, Congressional leadership committed to reversing the crop insurance cuts when Congress turns to an omnibus appropriations bill later this year.