As one of history’s longest, most widespread droughts continues to suffocate crops and livestock nationwide, the importance of crop insurance is becoming increasingly obvious to those in agriculture. Yet, despite what the vast majority of the farmers and ranchers who are being affected by the drought and counting on the reliability and efficiency of crop…
As the members of the Ag Committee await the fate of the Farm Bill that was recently marked up by their committee and sent to the House leadership for possible floor time, a widespread and deepening drought is gripping the nation and sending shock waves through commodity markets. A drought specialist with the national weather service…
A coalition of more than 75 farm groups sent a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson, to thank them for their support in moving the Farm Bill forward, and urge them to continue momentum. “Farmers need certainty about farm policy as they make annual operating decisions,” the letter…
According to the American Academy of Actuaries, “for a risk pool to remain viable, it must be of sufficient size and comprised of a broad cross section of risks.” In other words, in order for risky folks to have access to affordable insurance, less risky people need to participate too. This is true whether you’re…
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its latest rendition of the farm subsidy database, and this one really is a piece of work. Though Farm Policy Facts has been monitoring (and debunking) EWG attacks on rural America since 2007, EWG continues to spin complicated webs of half-truths to garner media headlines. Five years ago…
Although extreme environmental groups and other high-powered special interests have spent millions of dollars lobbying against U.S. farm policy in the halls of Congress and in the editorial pages of major newspapers, a new poll finds that they are not getting traction with the American public. According to the Congressional Connection Poll, conducted by Princeton…
With payments from crop insurers to farmers approaching the $11 billion mark, 2011 will go down in the record books as one of the most destructive and costliest weather years in history. A new video series recently launched by National Crop Insurance Services captures the human side of the issue, with testimonials from farmers, a banker,…
For those who have espoused the view that farm policies have made unhealthy food inexpensive and have thus contributed to the over-consumption of junk food, USDA says it’s time to think again. A new study, titled “Are Healthy Foods More Expensive,” found that previous assumptions about junk food being less expensive were based on a biased…
The 2012 Farm Bill will include major funding cuts for America’s agricultural sector, and these reductions will come on top of the more than $15 billion in cuts made to farm policy in recent years to help Washington tame its crippling deficit. The scene being played out in other countries, however, is much different. While…
The House Agriculture Committee spent much of last week discussing the future of farm policy and what the upcoming Farm Bill needs to look like in order to carry us through the various challenges that lie ahead. Testimony was presented and submitted on behalf of several farm groups, and is included below, along with accompanying…
New York City is the fashion and financial capital of the world. Hollywood has been home to some of history’s greatest actors and agents. Detroit is known for harboring America’s auto industry, and Pittsburgh will always be able to claim that its steel helped make America. Each industry has its place in our nation’s fabric,…
Earlier this week, National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) released the first of what is to be a series of educational videos explaining the importance of crop insurance and its functionality among American agriculture. In this video, aptly titled “Crop Insurance 101,” Tom Zacharias, president of NCIS, reviews the history of the program, why it was…