Sen. Hoeven introduces bill to strengthen crop insurance

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) introduced legislation this week that is designed to strengthen crop insurance and make higher levels of coverage more affordable for producers.

The Federal Agriculture Risk Management Enhancement and Resilience (FARMER) Act would do several things, including increase premium support for higher levels of crop insurance coverage, which will enhance affordability and reduce the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance. It would also improve the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) by increasing premium support and expanding the coverage level, providing producers with an additional level of protection.

Further, Hoeven’s bill would direct the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to conduct a study to improve the effectiveness of SCO in large counties. Finally, it would not require producers to choose between purchasing enhanced crop insurance coverage or participating in Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. This would give them the flexibility to make decisions that work best for their operations.

“Crop insurance is an essential piece of the farm safety net, providing farmers with their most important risk management tool as they work to continue providing Americans with the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. I have heard from producers across North Dakota about the need to make this important program more affordable. As such, we’re working to not only defend crop insurance, but improve it. That’s how we’re going to keep the farm in the farm bill,” Hoeven said. “My legislation will make higher levels of coverage more affordable across the country, especially in states where it’s currently prohibitively expensive to buy up. Ultimately, producers buying higher levels of coverage will lessen the need for ad-hoc disaster assistance in the future. That means a more resilient ag economy and a better deal for taxpayers.”

The bill is cosponsored by Sens. John Boozman (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS.).

It is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Crop Insurance Professionals Association, Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau, Midwest Council on Agriculture, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National Corn Growers Association, National Sunflower Association, Southwest Council of Agribusiness, U.S. Beet Sugar Association, U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Durum Growers Association, Western Peanut Growers Association, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, North Dakota Corn Growers Association, North Dakota Farmers Union, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, North Dakota Soybean Growers Association, and the Northharvest Bean Growers Association.

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